My Appearance on WGST's "The Sully Show" 2/13/15 - New NASCAR Technology

The NASCAR season is about to get underway. Daytona 500 Qualifying in this weekend. The race is next weekend... Rick and Sully look at some of the new technology in NASCAR for 2015.

listen to ‘The Sully Show February 13, 2015’ on audioBoom

1.  NASCAR will use 45 remote HD cameras to record every pit stop

This year, NASCAR will use 45 remote HD cameras to record every pit stop and automatically check for rules violations such as the pit crew entering the pit stall too early, equipment leaving the pit stall and drivers pitting outside their stalls.

The cameras will feed into a trailer in the TV compound at each track, where eight NASCAR officials will sit at workstations with two computer screens each, and double-check the penalties. If a violation is found, it will be radioed up to NASCAR race control in the timing and scoring area. Race officials will then enforce the penalty per NASCAR's rule book. The officials in the trailer will be assigned pit stops randomly.

Shawn Rogers, NASCAR's managing director of business operations, said the sanctioning body evaluated 18 proposal from 31 companies, including defense contractors and sports technology firms, before teaming up with Hawkeye Innovations as its development partner for proprietary technology.
The new system was tested over the final 11 Sprint Cup races of 2014.

 

2.   Spacers

NASCAR unveiled a variety of new rules designed to save teams money. The sanctioning body will use tapered spacers to reduce the flow of air and gasoline into the engines to cut nearly 175 horsepower down to 725. That should make engines more reliable while reducing any advantage by an engine manufacturer.

3.  Rear Spoiler

NASCAR also hopes to make the cars harder to drive by reducing the rear spoiler from eight to six inches to make it more difficult for anyone to get separation from the pack. Drivers also will be allowed to make adjustments to the set-up from inside the car and the Sprint Cup Series will use rain tires at its two road courses.

 

4.  Nationwide Series now the Xfinity Series
 

The Nationwide Series, the second-tier in NASCAR, will have a new name this year — the Xfinity Series. Xfinity is owned by Comcast, which also has NBC in its group. By coupling with a cable company, it could be easier to promote the series on network and cable outlets.
 

5.  BitPay will sponsor truck in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

BitPay will be the primary brand featured on Justin Boston’s No. 54 Toyota Tundra in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

This will be the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start for Boston with KBM, and his second career start in the series.  He will be competing for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award this season.

“I couldn’t be more excited about having this opportunity to represent the BitPay brand on and off the track,” said Boston. “BitPay is a global leader in bitcoin payment processing and they are at the forefront of shaping how we all spend money in everyday life.”

“NASCAR is watched by millions of people all over the world,” said Stephanie Wargo, VP of marketing of BitPay. “Through this exposure and working with Justin and KBM, we hope to help raise awareness about the bitcoin technology and our company’s platform.”

-  TV Coverage and Live Streaming

NBC now will broadcast the second half of the racing season, replacing TNT and ESPN. Fox will continue to carry the first half, and both networks said it would push some of their races onto their cable outlets Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network.

For the second consecutive year, "The Great American Race" is streamed live in both English and Spanish through FOX Sports GO, the critically acclaimed app that provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content at home or on-the-go. All FOX NASCAR programming in 2015 is live streamed on FOX Sports GO. FOX Sports Deportes, the No. 1 Spanish-language sports network in the U.S., also offers live coverage of the DAYTONA 500, with NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES driver German Quiroga joining as race analyst.