NASCAR and the Internet: A marriage made in heaven

Around 2003 NASCAR began its quest to get out of the South and into the mainstream. The powers-that-be decided the Internet was going to be the great liberator of the sport. They began what was, and still is today, called “trackpass.”

In the beginning of this experiment, one was able to follow only a few of NASCAR‘s top drivers (and Dale Earnhart Jr.) in a couple of ways. Upon selecting your favorite driver (of the choices you had, it may not have always been your personal favorite), you could choose to “follow” them around the track or listen to their radio traffic.

By “following them around the track, you got watch the car number, which was the graphical representation of the car, travel around the virtual track while all the while keeping tabs on where he was in relation to the leader, who was also represented by his number. It was nothing flashy, but it made for a great way to keep track of what was going on during a commercial break.

The 43 machine made famous by Richard Petty. Driven at the time of this picture by Bobby Labonte.

The radio scanner feature is pretty self explanatory. You got to listen in on all of the radio traffic from the car all race long. Unedited, unscripted and always a blast to listen to.

NOW, after a good seven years of technological advances in both Internet connections and delivery, TrackPass kills any other sports online coverage of their events.

NASCAR fans can now follow not just the top drivers, but ANY one of the 43 drivers on the track. The way the drivers are pictured has changed as well, now instead of a boring number ponging its way around a stagnate oval, virtual cars jockey for position on your screen, much like watching the EA Sports NASCAR video games.

Realtime telemetry tells you how fast the car is going, how much fuel the driver has left, how many laps he has run, how many he has led, where he is in the overall standings at that very second, what he had for lunch that day, where he plans on eating after the race….you get the picture.

The scanner is also still around, and again, instead of just having a few drivers to pick from, you can listen to all 43, at once if you ears can decipher all the southern drawls bombarding them. Plus, they added the NASCAR officials to the mix, which means you can hear the big dog’s hand down judgment from on high, and the drivers unsavory responses.

Also new this year is the ability to watch your driver from one of three different camera angles. The greatest part of all these bells and whistles is that you are not bound to one driver, but can freely move about the track a will, following who you want, when you want.

The 01 Pontiac driven by Jerry Nadeau before his career ending crash during practice at Richmond International Speedway in 2003.

Believe it or not, NASCAR has quietly taken the lead in the personalization of its fans online experience. The amount of information available on TrackPass makes for one of the greatest companion tools in all of sports. It also is a more than adequate replacement in the absence of a television. More than that, it has given rise to even more drivers popularity as fans are able to follow drivers even when the television cameras are not on them.

Say what you will about the validity of NASCAR as a sport*, but in terms of its use of technology, America’s top 3 could learn a thing or two from them good old boys in Daytona Beach and step into the 21st century.

*For years I have heard ignorant people argue that NASCAR is a joke and that constantly making left turns could not possibly be considered a sport.

But take this into consideration. A baseball player will end up sitting for more than 75% of his game in the relative comfort the dugout just as football, basketball and hockey players can get rest on the bench when not actively engaged in the action on the field. NASCAR drivers are locked into their seat for sometimes more than four hours, driving in the equivalent of the worst rush hour traffic, sometimes only a mere inch away from the guy next to him while muscling a 2-ton car around a banked track at speed of almost 200 mph. If you still disagree my assessment, please do your own and get back to me…