
Fox Sports Busch Light Clash NASCAR Studio Show Embraces Home Run Production The broadcaster is ready to take coverage to the next level for year two By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, February 3, 2023 - 12:25 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The inaugural Busch Light Clash NASCAR Cup Series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum last year tested the mettle of everyone: the crew at the venue, NASCAR drivers and teams, and Fox Sports. This weekend, the event returns, complete with its quarter-mile track (the shortest in NASCAR), and, for everyone, year two feels a lot more comfortable.
Last year, we had no idea what we were going to run into, recalls George Grill, field technical producer, Fox Sports. NASCAR was on a quarter-mile track for the first time in decades, and the drivers were in a brand-new car that they had never raced in. Now they have a year with the car and can lean on it a little bit more. For us, the laps just flew by so we're hoping to be able to dive a little deeper. Now that we've done it once, everything slows down in your mind, and you can do more rather than feel like you are catching up to what is going on.
Fox Sports studio operations for the Busch Light Clash will involve a Home Run Production in a control room in Charlotte, NC.
The event also is the first (of many) to celebrate two anniversaries, and Fox will have a crew of 70 onsite for the studio show and a total of 350, including the race-production crew.
We're trying to present it on a grander scale as this year is NASCAR's 75th anniversary and the Coliseum's 100th anniversary, says Grill. Those two things are driving a lot of the production side.
The biggest change this year is that the studio show will be handled via Home Run Production from Charlotte, NC.
Only limited crew will be onsite. Production for the studio show - including director, TD, and graphics - will be housed at the Charlotte facility. Notes Rob Mikulicka, director of operations, remote studio, Fox Sports, It's something we would like to do more of on the studio side. This is our proof of concept.
Adds Grill, If we can save budget and show this all works well, maybe we can bring the studio show out to more events. But it also eases the stress of personnel stretched over these four weeks with the NFC Championship, this race, the Super Bowl, and then the Daytona 500.
For Fox Sports, the event is part of a four-week run that is about as big as it gets: the NFC Championship Game last weekend, the Clash this Sunday, Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12, and the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19. That means that folks who were onsite last year will be in Phoenix prepping for the Super Bowl, but Mikulicka says that, because last year's race was the first ever, there was plenty of note taking and photo snapping.
Last year went swimmingly well, says Mikulicka. It was such an unknown thing, and I think we had the most notes ever taken on a show. I have to give a little bit of tribute to [former manager, remote studio operations,] Amy Burns, who is no longer with Fox, for giving me a lot of good notes. We're ready for a lot of things, and we're able to have the flexibility to try new things because we have the notes.
One change, for example, is that the prerace concert stage was modified because a USC student section will be next to it, ensuring that the concert will be a little livelier for fans in the stands and viewers at home. It also means a backdrop with more fans in the stands for the studio show, which will be located on the other end of the track.
SMT will provide some new services to Fox Sports for Clash coverage. Debuting for the 2023 season, a new optical pointer tracking solution, ISOTrack2.0, allows simultaneous tracking of up to four objects with real-time insertion of pointer graphics from in-car or aerial cameras, such as from helicopters, drones, or blimps. Additionally, ISOTrack2.0 can supplement the tracking graphics with real-time data from SMT's GEMStat, GEMLive, and RACEf/x systems. Additional graphics will include Race Off Pit Road and Restart Zone graphics and, new for the Clash, the Choose Rule graphic, which will display live positioning as drivers pick their spots.
Some things will stay the same. As was done last year, the core production effort will originate from Game Creek Video Cleatus mobile unit, which will cover the Clash, then head cross-country for the Daytona 400, and make the return jaunt across the country to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, for the Auto Club 400 on Feb. 26.
In terms of cameras, says Grill, it's pretty much what we did last year. The camera complement will include Skycam, a Strada crane for shots overlooking the Peristyle, and drone shots provided by Beverly Hills Aerials.
We have the heavy-lift drone, which can handle a more broadcast-style camera, he notes, and the Stradacam crane can come in nice and slow over the Peristyle and look down into the bowl.
One lesson from last year was that, because the cars are driving at slower speeds, the use of high-speed cameras is enhanced.
You'll actually see the turning of the wheels and everything, says Grill. Even our jib camera will have a high-speed camera because it's so close to the action.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
31/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/03/2026
Boris FX Acquires Vegas Pro, Sound Forge, and Acid Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov March 30, 2026
0 Comments
The acclaimed VFX developer bolsters its award-w...
31/03/2026
Berklee India Exchange Presents Anirudh Varma Collective The collective will present a workshop on Hindustani classical music and a concert in collaboration w...
30/03/2026
Manifold Technologies, a Germany-based provider of cloud infrastructure for live broadcast production, will demonstrate support for 400GbE COTS FPGA accelerator...
30/03/2026
Boland Communications will introduce its QD4K315HDR10, a 31.5-inch QD-OLED monitor, at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C3519, April 18-22). The company is also introducing...
30/03/2026
PTZOptics will demonstrate its Move 4K PTZ cameras and Horizon web-based control platform at NAB Show 2026 (Booth N1902).
Move 4K with Horizon is now available...
30/03/2026
Net Insight will demonstrate the next version of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer for live media services across multi-domain environments, at N...
30/03/2026
Appear ASA will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W1531, April 19-22, Las Vegas). The company completed an IPO in November 2025.
Our customer-first approach is ...
30/03/2026
Harmonic has announced new capabilities for its sports streaming platform, covering multiview, programmatic advertising, in-stream advertising, and content wate...
30/03/2026
Ateme (Booth W1723) will demonstrate broadcast, streaming, and AI-driven media workflow solutions at NAB Show 2026.
GenAI and Agentic AI
Ateme will demonstrat...
30/03/2026
Bitmovin has announced new capabilities for Player Web X, its web video player, ...
30/03/2026
The 2026 NAB Show (April 18-22, exhibits April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center) will host Brazil's Minister of Communications, Frederico de Siqueira Filh...
30/03/2026
EVS will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth N1841), highlighting new products and updates across its live production portfolio, including the debut of T-Motion med...
30/03/2026
Solid State Logic will demonstrate its virtualized System T platform at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C6907). Demonstrations will include the VTE1 virtual DSP engine, ne...
30/03/2026
Globecast will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W3335), highlighting its hybrid service model spanning satellite, IP, fiber, and cloud.
The company will demonst...
30/03/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), and the Video Services Forum (VSF) have announced that the IP Showcase w...
30/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026 BBright will present a demonstration of its One Stream for the World concept, showing how a single ST 2110 playout stream can simultaneously ...
30/03/2026
OpenDrives will demonstrate new products at NAB Show 2026, with two locations in the West Hall: a pod (W3443-E) in the Sports Business Hub and a cabana at W1158...
30/03/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
30/03/2026
The economics of live sports streaming have changed. New rights models, cloud production tools, and lower-cost distribution have made it possible for high schoo...
30/03/2026
MPE-capable chamber strings library announced
Alongside their collection of Kontakt instruments, Sonora Cinematic have been steadily introducing a series of...
30/03/2026
Latin-inspired percussion instrument announced
Built on a newly developed engine and interface, UJAM's latest instrument has been designed to create Lat...
30/03/2026
Latest Eduardo Tarilonte collaboration announced
The latest library to join Best Service's ever-growing range includes four solo wind instruments that c...
30/03/2026
We want to hear from you!
Complete our SOS Quick Survey and enter the prize draw for a chance to win one of three $50 Amazon vouchers!
Sound On Sound carri...
30/03/2026
CC-330 Husky. 2024 Eric Desbiens Photography.
Used with permission for the announcement and related communications. No residual rights....
30/03/2026
L3Harris Technologies will provide WESCAM CMX -8 sensor systems for integration on new Uncrewed Aircraft Systems from MDA Space, enhancing the Royal Canadian Na...
30/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/03/2026
Synamedia today announced that Mileto Tecnologia, one of Brazil's largest pay-TV operators, has chosen the Synamedia Go platform to support its rapid OTT ex...
30/03/2026
FOR-A's Software-Defined, AI-Powered Development Advances with Nippon TV and...
30/03/2026
Give Your Astrophotography REAL Depth - After Effects Tutorial
Graham Quince March 30, 2026
0 Comments
In this tutorial, I talk you through the full w...
30/03/2026
Alfalite returns to NAB Show alongside FOR-A, showcasing LED solutions for broad...
30/03/2026
Introducing WO Aurora WideOrbit is pleased to introduce WO Aurora, a new name fo...
30/03/2026
Sky welcomes Karen Blackett CBE to its DAC and thanks Baroness Prashar and Ndidi Okezie as they step down after five yearsMonday 30 March 2026
Sky announces ch...
30/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces the Reunion for Love is Blind: Sweden Season...
30/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix unveils new images from the second season of Gangs of Galicia
Entertainment
30 March 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Do...
30/03/2026
Back to All News
The Latest on Netflix Anime, Unveiled at AnimeJapan 2026
Entertainment
30 March 2026
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboard
From romance an...
30/03/2026
Leading Taiwan Broadband Operator Drives Fiber Deeper with Harmonic SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 30, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that KBRO, a lea...
30/03/2026
Tyngsboro, Mass., March 30, 2026 - City councils, county commissions, school boa...
29/03/2026
Cloud-based production, real-time engagement, and creator-driven storytelling ai...
28/03/2026
Now features DiGiCo console integration
Harrison's live recording and virtual soundcheck software has just reached its third major version, which among ...