Live From Daytona 500: Fox Sports Headlines 20th Consecutive Year With FPV Racing Drone, 80-Ft. Strada Crane The broadcaster will have help from offsite in Charlotte and Los Angeles By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Saturday, February 15, 2020 - 6:44 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Imagine being the host broadcaster for Super Bowl LIV. Now add the task of relaunching football's newest property, the XFL. To top it off, mix in NASCAR's storied tradition in Daytona Beach, FL. For Fox Sports, the past 14 days have been a whirlwind, to say the least. In its 20th season at the Daytona 500, the broadcaster is flaunting new technologies in the infield, such as an FPV racing drone and Strada crane, relying on SMT's data-tracking for virtual applications, and integrating with locations in Charlotte, NC, and Los Angeles.
Fox Sports recruited Beverly Hills Aerials, a Los Angeles-based company, for this year's FPV racing drone.
This will be the third or fourth year in a row that we've used a drone of some kind, notes Mike Davies, SVP, technical and field operations, Fox Sports. We started off with a tethered drone, then an untethered [one]. This drone is a lot smaller, a lot faster, and super promising.
MORE FROM DAYTONA 500
BSI Prioritizes Consistent Testing, Driver Safety With Visor Cam
SMT Digitizes 62-Year-Old Race With Broadcast, Team Data-Tracking
Fox Sports' Mike Davies and Dave Hill Preview Network's 20th Consecutive Season
NASCAR Productions Embraces At-Home-Production Model for Super Bowl of Racing
Game Creek Video Provides Total Structural Backbone in the Compound
Fox Sports Stresses Audio From the Loudest Sport on Earth
Photo Gallery: A Weekend at the Daytona 500
The Need for Speed: FPV Racing Drone Puts the Pedal to the Metal
When the Fox production team returned to its war room after last year's Daytona 500, it was looking for something more out of the aerial coverage. Although previous iterations of the drone had ushered in a new way of capturing NASCAR races from high above, a certain element was missing.
Every year, I think, we've moved the bar a little bit higher, but we never really got what we wanted to get, says Davies. In fact, what we found with drones was that, even though there's a fair amount of effort and expense, the camera itself looks like any other camera. We started looking for a drone that matched a sport that's all about speed and action.
To scratch this production itch, Beverly Hills Aerials, a company specializing in film production and headquartered near Fox Sports' studio in Los Angeles, came to the rescue. A kinship developed, derived from part necessity and part happenstance.
Michael Izquierdo pilots the drone near Daytona International Speedway's Turn 1.
We were introduced, and in fact, we received their regular email blasts, so we started talking to them about putting together a live package, he explains. We've been doing some testing out of Van Nuys Airport with these guys. They'll be in, and there's always a learning curve for a company that hasn't really done racing before.
The FPV drone, typically seen on broadcasts of drone racing, can reach 85 mph at top speed and is navigated with a headset that mirrors the drone's first-person camera. At the Daytona 500, it is manned by Michael Izquierdo, drone pilot, Beverly Hills Aerials, and viewers who tune into the broadcast can expect to see cinematic shots from man-made Lake Lloyd in the infield and even shots that run parallel along the cars on the asphalt. Given the drone's work rate, battery levels tend to drain quickly when operating at these high speeds. Despite the 24 extra sets of batteries that Izquierdo's packing, Fox Sports' planned role for this device does not include prolonged use throughout the long race.
The drone is less about covering the race than it is about providing cool, beauty shots, says Davies. I've got 50 other cameras that are shooting the race, and they do a great job, but this will really enhance our coverage.
Click HERE to watch the drone in flight
An Outstretched Hand: Strada Crane Covers 2 Miles of Real Estate
Along with the FPV drone high in the sky will be the network's Strada crane, reaching new heights. Stationed on the infield between Turns 1 and 2, the 80-ft. extendible structure will shoot sweeping views of the race itself as well as shots of the massive crowd expected to pack Daytona International Speedway.
The 80-ft. Strada crane will also capture aerial shots of the race.
The duo of the drone and the Strada crane will traverse the same (if not more) ground previously covered by the Mega Trax Rail Cam. Although the Rail Cam did the job, Davies says, eliminating it came down to a budgetary decision.
The Rail Cam was cool, but it was very expensive, he explains. The distances that needed to be traveled to have an effective shot within a 2 -mile track is exceptional, and the price wasn't sustainable. I'm hoping with the Strada crane and the drone, we'll cover what the Rail Cam did last year.
200 Laps Strong: BSI Visor Cams Top 50-Camera Complement
An auto-racing production is not complete without BSI's technological handprint. As with the company's work at the Indy 500, fans will get a look into the cars of multiple drivers during the race. At Fox Sports' disposal is the returning Visor Cam, a POV camera that will be attached to the helmets of No. 48 Jimmie Johnson and No. 77 Ross Chastain.
Each one of these cars will be wired up, says Davies. There's between eight to 10 cameras.
The Visor Cams are only the tip of the iceberg. With a grand total of 50 cameras, Artie Kempner, coordinating director, Fox Sports, has a wide selection to choose from. The complement will include 2
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Deepens Partnership with Taiwan's 62nd Golden Hors...
25/11/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, an investigative journalist from Kenya is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2025.
The 26-year-old-sele...
25/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Blayke Scheer, Senior Director, Creative Content, YES NetworkThe Indiana alum has turned storytelling into an artform for more than two decadesBy...
25/11/2025
Op-Ed: With FCC's C-Band Auction on the Horizon, Broadcasters Need Proven, C...
25/11/2025
Analysis: Is Baller League really the future of sport? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
With KSI on...
25/11/2025
Platinum Whitepaper: The Growth of Broadcast in the World of Major Large Scale E...
25/11/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: SVG Women's Sports WorkshopBy Samantha Gabay
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:27 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlig...
25/11/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: CacheFly's Matt Levine on the Evolving Role of th...
25/11/2025
Peacock's EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast Levels Up on Thanksgiving With SkyCam as...
25/11/2025
Mathias Broe attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Sauna at Library Center Theatre. (Photo by Michael Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Fes...
25/11/2025
The best playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks bring a little extra magic to your daily routine. With new features and offerings, Spotify Premium delivers even mo...
25/11/2025
Comprehensive new research confirms what we already knew: Australian music fans love the quality, quantity, and access they have to new and local music on strea...
25/11/2025
Applicable Products
Objectives The purpose of this application note is to give a brief background on 5G (NR) wireless communication an explain the reason a SN...
25/11/2025
Nielsen will now measure both Lionsgate's FAST channel MovieSphere and Movie...
Live From Daytona 500: Fox Sports Headlines 20th Consecutive Year With FPV Racing Drone, 80-Ft. Strada Crane The broadcaster will have help from offsite in Charlotte and Los Angeles By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
