The team was formed by racer/police officer Kevin Hanson in 2002 when he decided to pursue his passion of working with children and racing. During his tenure as a Police Officer with the Champaign Police Department in Champaign, IL, Kevin was fortunate enough to serve most of tenure outside of the normal confines of patrol. During his career, he served on the Gang Unit, S.W.A.T. Team and as a Detective. Through his work, Kevin noticed countless, preventable injuries to children from failing to wear proper safety gear, to include helmets. Seeing the need for safety education, Hanson founded the "Safety First" kids program. The program has been a nationwide success, with Kevin putting on helmet and bicycle safety presentations to children nation-wide. Kevin and other members of the team are able to go onsite to schools, youth-groups, YMCAs and other community events promoting safety and giving away free bicycle helmets.

In 2004, Safety First Racing became a factory-supported, Suzuki sponsored team showcasing a two-rider team in the AMA Superbike series. For this year, the team will be competing in the Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes on 2007 Suzuki GSXR 600’s.

To date, Kevin has impacted over 10,000 children in the 7-12 year old range with his "Safety First" presentations, which are performed nationwide in conjunction with the AMA Pro racing schedule. At this impressionable age, Kevin is able to install lifelong, positive habits for the children. By using the "hero" role as a Police Officer and motorcycle racer, Kevin makes the presentation very interactive and high energy, keeping their interest and attention throughout the 30 minute program with visual aids of a race motorcycle, bicycle and previously crashed helmets. The goal is to have the children recognize rules of the road, pre-ride safety checks, along with repeatedly instilling into the children "What’s the most important thing you can wear....a helmet!"

Donations are welcome for assisting in the purchase of helmets for the "Safety First" program, allowing you to assist in Kevin’s goal of putting a helmet on every child’s head, which helps save children’s lives.