Live From Daytona 500: BSI Prioritizes Consistent Testing, Driver Safety With Visor Cam The company is using the iconic race to test improvements to picture quality By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Saturday, February 15, 2020 - 5:40 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Embracing a stock-car-racing lifestyle comes with risks. Reaching speeds upwards of 200 mph, drivers face danger at every turn. At the Daytona 500, Broadcast Sports International (BSI) will give fans a glimpse of what it's like behind the wheel with Visor Cams on the helmets of two participating drivers: No. 48 Jimmie Johnson and No. 77 Ross Chastain.
The helmet of both Jimmie Johnson (pictured here) and Ross Chastain will be equipped with a Visor Cam.
NASCAR has been great over the years about having this gear in the cars, says Peter Larsson, president, BSI. They've really gone a long way to make sure that the cars that aren't carrying a camera have the equivalent weights and aerodynamic shape.
MORE FROM DAYTONA 500
Fox Sports Headlines 20th Consecutive Year With FPV Racing Drone, 80-Ft. Strada Crane
SMT Digitizes 62-Year-Old Race With Broadcast, Team Data-Tracking
Fox Sports' Mike Davies and Dave Hill Preview the 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
Guess and Check: Testing Becomes a Crucial Step in the Process
In special cases like the Visor Cam, the BSI team did their due diligence in the research and development lab. Over the past six months, testing was done to ensure that Johnson and Chastain would be equipped with a reliable and durable product.
There were tests where they would put the helmet on a big steel block and drop these heavy weights on it, because one of the big things that you didn't want to happen was there be enough mass or solidness left in the camera that it could split the helmet open in a severe impact, says Larsson. There also was a lot of sled testing where they would put a dummy in a sled with weight and slide it down a 30-ft. path into a brick wall.
In the testing stages, the technical team wanted to make sure that, during a crash, the camera would essentially disintegrate and detach from the driver's helmet.
There's a certain range of motion that your neck can expand before it will sustain any permanent damage, he says. [NASCAR] wanted to see if there was going to be an increase in movement because of the extra weight. So they did an awful lot of work to make sure that there'd be no extra danger.
Some drivers may deem this application a bit intrusive, but BSI reassured them on the effort's intended purpose and gained their trust.
The biggest concern was an issue of liability because there's a big difference between a driver's choosing to put a GoPro-esque device on a helmet and our telling them to do it, Larsson explains. There are still some drivers that say no, and that's fine, but we tried to make [this device] as small, light, and non-intrusive as possible.
These helmet POV cameras will give fans a view from the driver's perspective.
Prepare for the Worst: Development for Possible Contingency Plans
As Johnson and Chastain fly down the track, the chance of these POV cameras going offline greatly increases. Despite all the testing that these cameras went through, a high-speed impact could potentially do severe damage. All Larsson and his team can do is hold their breath and hope for the best possible result.
It's in the lap of the TV gods at that point, says Larsson. In the old days at Daytona, the pit stops, albeit intense, were a little more leisurely. [NASCAR] would actually let us get in and get to the stuff in the car. [My team] does a good job at testing, but it's just going to be what it's going to be.
In case something actually breaks, BSI has a building in the infield near pit row that turns into a makeshift repair shop.
If it breaks, he explains, you can get two bad pieces and get enough to create substantial machining capabilities back in the office. The camera shop will fix anything that we send them. We lose very few [cameras], he adds. If there is a wreck or something like that, the only time we actually lose equipment is if there's a fire or when the cars [slide] into the wall.
Same Sport, Different Procedure: How Visor Cam Changes for Indy 500
NASCAR isn't the only motorsport where Visor Cams make an appearance. In 3 months, the Indianapolis 500 will deploy these cameras on certain drivers on the IndyCar circuit. Besides the car's being an entirely different structure, other challenges come with what would seem a similar camera deployment.
The basic concepts are the same, Larsson points out. Indy is a specific animal just because the speeds are so fast, and, with the catch fencing, the RF is more difficult.
RF implementation varies given the different capacities at each venue. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for example, seats about 235,000 people and, with the area in the infield, can accommodate about 400,000. Daytona International Speedway, on the other hand, seats about 101,500 people, with a maximum of about 168,000 including the infield.
You go up there, set up, test, and you think everything's all right, but, when race day comes [at the Indy 500], everything is totally different because you start getting all these microwaves that are sitting in the stands, Larsson adds. Since Daytona is a much more open environment, the [team] has a lot more experience to know exactly where things need to be to get a better product out there.
Always Improving: BSI Uses Daytona T
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
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...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
Live From Daytona 500: BSI Prioritizes Consistent Testing, Driver Safety With Visor Cam The company is using the iconic race to test improvements to picture quality By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
