Fox Sports' Daytona 500 Innovations Include Rail Cam, Drone, Digiboom, and Virtual-Graphics Galore

Fox Sports' Daytona 500 Innovations Include Rail Cam, Drone, Digiboom, and Virtual-Graphics Galore The onsite operation is integrated with the broadcaster's new Charlotte facility By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Friday, February 15, 2019 - 3:33 pm

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Fox Sports' annual pilgrimage to Daytona, FL, this month has once again provided an invaluable petri dish for testing next-gen production technologies. Through its Fox Sports Lab initiative, the Fox Sports team is utilizing its two weeks onsite for Daytona Speedweeks and the epic Daytona 500 finale on Sunday as a test bed for leading-edge cameras, virtual graphics, and other technology to be used throughout the NASCAR season as well as on other Fox Sports live broadcasts.

FOX Sports enters its 19th season of NASCAR coverage with live Daytona Speedweeks coverage leading into the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Among the tech toys on hand are a Mega Trax high-speed Rail Cam, an untethered Helivideo drone, a Visor Cam, a Redrock Micro Digiboom body jib, an enhanced-data-analytics touchscreen and graphical re-creations of the race powered by SMT track data, and tight integration with Fox's new state-of-the-art virtual studio in Charlotte, NC.

What is great about Daytona is, we get so many hours of programming over two weeks, which gives us a whole lot of time with state-of-the-art equipment to [perform] tests and research - not only for motorsports but for [all our sports properties], says Mike Davies, SVP, technical and field operations, Fox Sports. This is a great opportunity for our amazing team to start looking at brand-new things or refine things that we've already been working on. Besides the fact that this is one of our biggest shows of the year and a fantastic event, there are a lot of opportunities to get these tools out there to test for R&D.

Covering the Backstretch: Mega Trax Rail Cam, Untethered Drone

Fox Sports has worked with Mega Trax to construct about 850 ft. of custom monorail track coming out of Turn 2 on the back stretch.

With nearly silent operation, the Rail Cam (featuring a 250mm lens) can accelerate from 0 mph to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds, topping out at speeds in excess of 90 mph. They system is fully wireless and battery-powered, and the Mega Trax team can automatically recharge the batteries on the fly, which means that the system can run the whole race without batteries' having to be switched out.

Used previously at Fontana and Charlotte, the Rail Cam will be deployed for the Daytona 500 for the first time (it has also been available for Fox's coverage throughout this week).

For a long time, says Davies, we've been searching for ways to add to our coverage of the back stretch of Daytona - the only straight part of the track really - so having a camera close up and fast like the Rail Cam is going to really help [lead race producer] Barry [Landis] and [director] Artie [Kempner]. When cars are going 200 mph and you're shooting them from up cameras, it's difficult to [demonstrate] just how fast they are going on TV. But dynamic cameras like the Rail Cam give you the feeling of being on the track and realizing just how fast these cars are going.

Fox will deploy an untethered drone for the first time at the Daytona 500.

In addition to the Rail Cam, Fox will also use an untethered drone at the Daytona 500 for the first time (a tethered drone was used last year). The untethered system will be deployed beginning today on Fox's Speedweeks coverage but will not fly over the racing or fan areas. The small, agile Helivideo system features a DJI Inspire 2 drone with an X7 Super 35mm camera.

We've been shooting for this untethered drone on the back stretch, and we're extremely excited about it, says Davies. We think it's going to add a very different, cool new perspective.

Here Comes the Digiboom: Pit Row Gets New Body Jib

To enhance pit-row coverage, Fox is deploying a Digiboom body jib from Redrock Micro for the first time. The gimbal-stabilized system allows the operator to wear an extended arm with a stabilized camera at the end to provide unique shots inside the pits and over the wall. Fox Sports has been working with Redrock Micro since the NFL preseason, connecting the vendor with its best Steadicam operators to perfect the Digiboom system in advance of Daytona.

We have played around with pole cams in the past, but, with this, we are able to have that extra extension, notes Davies. Pit row gets very congested with people, especially when Michael Waltrip is doing his grid walk prior to the race. This allows you to get up and over everything.

During the race, he continues, this camera allows you to place the actual camera over the wall. That's something obviously we can't do with the manned cameras, so we'll able to get some unique views of the pit and the crew chief's area on top of the pit boxes. I think that it's going to be a good addition is in terms of getting reactions and seeing the emotions coming out of the pits. We experimented with something similar last Daytona, and it was pretty cool, but this takes it to the next level. I think we're onto something here. We think this one is going to be a useful tool for a variety of our other sports as well.

Visor Cam Back in Action Among BSI On-Boards

A dozen cars will carry BSI on-board/in-car cameras (including nine cars carrying four cameras apiece), including a Visor Cam inside Ryan Preece's No. 47 car. Visor Cam, custom developed by BSI, made its Daytona 500 debut last year and will be clipped to Preece's helmet throughout the race on Sunday.

The Visor Cam, seen here at least year's Daytona 500, will allow fans to see what the driver sees.

Obviously, camera technology is at the forefront of everything we do with NASCAR; w

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