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SFI Foundation Inc. has filed a lawsuit and sought a restraining order against Bill Simpson's Impact Racing LLC to ban the sale of fire suits, seat belts and other uncertified Impact gear it says bear counterfeit SFI labels or patches. A federal judge in Indianapolis on Thursday issued an order granting much of what SFI wanted, said Peter Yarbrough, an attorney for the not-for-profit. Yarbrough did not immediately have details of the order available and it did not appear in the court's online docket Thursday. California-based SFI sets standards for several racing organizations, including NASCAR, the National Hot Rod Association and the Indy Racing League.

The lawsuit alleges that between November 2005 and August 2008, Simpson instructed an Impact employee to have an Asian vendor produce counterfeit SFI labels that were affixed to various products, including seat belts, arm restraints, fire suits, head socks, gloves and boots. SFI plans to decertify those Impact products made during that time, Yarbrough said. The sale of conformance labels to manufacturers is SFI's main source of income and its loss would cause a "severe financial hardship," SFI said in its lawsuit. SFI and Impact issued a joint statement Thursday night saying Impact had provided sworn testimony that no counterfeit SFI labels have been used on company products made in 2009 and 2010. SFI said it will not decertify Impact products made in those years. The complaint accuses Impact of counterfeiting, fraud and misrepresentation, unfair competition, unfair and deceptive trade practices and breach of contract and seeks unspecified damages.

An Impact Racing employee who answered the phone Thursday said Simpson was not available for comment. A phone message also was left at the office of Impact Racing's Indianapolis attorney, Edward Harris III