Live From Daytona 500: SMT Digitizes 62-Year-Old Race With Broadcast, Team Data-Tracking 2D, 3D applications have revolutionized coverage of motorsports By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Saturday, February 15, 2020 - 5:01 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Over recent years, data-tracking and analysis have become engrained in the fabric of auto racing. On the NASCAR circuit, both fans and drivers alike have embraced the practice to open up a new avenue of content, and in some cases, appreciation of the sport's intricacies. At the heart of these efforts, SMT's broadcast and team analytics are gamifying the Daytona 500 for younger viewers and enhancing the skills of NASCAR's combatants to better the overall product.
Phil Cochran, Associate Producer Nate Karamanski, and AJ Mead play a big part in SMT's graphics.
The first year, we received input from teams and were also looking at other tools that they were using, says Paulus Weemaes, senior director, motorsports, SMT. We wanted to make it more useful for them and we've done that for three years in a row now.
The Installation of Hardware: Cars Get Fitted With SMT Vectors
In order to jump into the virtual world, there needs to be a physical and tangible item in play to grab the data. In every car that fills the grid on the starting line, a contraption known as a vector is clipped to the top of the roof and is the central hub for data gathering and retrieval as the radio antenna. Since each car needs to be visible on the digital track, NASCAR has penciled the installation of the vector into the pre-race routine.
If the car shows up to inspection and doesn't have the proper components, they don't get to go through, says Weemaes. Every [participating] car that's on the track, we need to track, so we don't want to have things running around that we don't want.
This is the most difficult part of the process. Just like the stock cars that drive around the track, vectors need time to warm up with a few warmup laps. When the GPS sensor on the device get acquired and the six cameras being used by Fox are tapped into, the SMT crew is one step closer to virtualizing the cars.
Team analytics provide raw data from the car, like RPM, miles per hour, braking, throttling, and more.
When they do the first practice, it's sometimes a little bit of a challenge to get the lock on the car. Worst case scenario, its only one or two laps, he continues. Connectivity's a bit of an issue. Once you're at the track, there's a lot of stuff going on, but [it hasn't been a problem] in the last five or six years.
Although the car has a lot of moving parts that run off of the same power source, the vector runs independently by itself. It's a strategy to maintain autonomy over their own piece of technology.
The vector itself gets powered by the battery, so there's no car power that goes through this, he says. We have our own little power unit. Which has another advantage because we can turn it on and off whenever we like.
Back to the Drawing Board: Teams and Drivers Interact With Analytics
Aside from tracking on the course, the vector is critical to understanding the dynamics of the actual car. For teams operating in the NASCAR Cup Series, the system is able to compute other information like fuel levels, revolutions per minute, speed, and more. This numerical data that is coupled with 3D virtual renderings of the car is an application called Team Analytics.
One-car qualifying is being executed by another product of SMT named GhostCar technology.
[Some other examples include] steering input, brake and throttle points, if they're doing that good, says AJ Mead, digital product manager, SMT. On top of that, we also give them strip charts, so they can see what is going on all those [2D] telemetry data points.
Sharing information freely wasn't always the case. Prior to 2018, teams were not able to see the activity being done by other participating teams. After deep discussion and the decision to let the information go public, SMT was chosen to facilitate the transition.
They came to SMT to offer some solutions, and that was pretty much the genesis, says Mead. It's driven by Unity [graphics engine] on the front end, and on the back end, we built the database that can archive every lap, every session, and every car.
When it comes time to break down a driver's session, pit crews can use a specified software that allows multiple GhostCar overlays of previous races to adjust performance.
Car locations are captured via six cameras being used by Fox Sports and a GPS signal through each vector.
Drivers can look at this [application] and say, Why is this guy so much better than me? Oh, he's doing this. Let me try that,' continues Mead. From an engineering standpoint, they can look at this and realize that the driver is loose in Turn 2. Just by looking at the charts, they can make wedge and car adjustments.
This application not only improves individual attributes, but also the work ethic of other drivers. As the old saying goes, iron does indeed sharpen iron.
Unlike anywhere else in motorsports, NASCAR opened up this data for everybody, says Weemaes. It has definitely brought the competition a little bit closer.
Broadcast-Bound: Fans Become Educated With On-Air Telemetry
For the fans, the broadcast is their way of seeing behind the data curtain. Talent like Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon are able to work with the virtual renderings from up in the booth.
The broadcast is leveraging SMT virtual graphics like this football field to compare a car's speed over a span of 100 yards.
We had a scenario during qualifying last week and the Fox team wanted to talk about launch,' off of pit row, says Mead. We were able to go b
North America Stories
16/07/2026
This recent graduate and Georgia native has turned an early fascination with live production into a growing passion for camera work
In the live-sports-video in...
16/07/2026
TNDV is marking the first anniversary of Aspiration 35, a mobile production truck built around ARRI Alexa 35 Live camera systems. Over its first year, the truck...
16/07/2026
ATSC has completed a major revision to its A/85 Recommended Practice: Techniques...
16/07/2026
FloSports has announced an exclusive global media partnership with CrossFit for the 2026 CrossFit Games, presented by Air National Guard, beginning July 21 in S...
16/07/2026
Sennheiser has released firmware version 1.4 for its Spectera wireless system and announced the Spectera Command Button (Cat. No. 701014). The update adds comma...
16/07/2026
ESPN and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) have announced a multi-year...
16/07/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the 20 Series Control Application, a Stream Deck plug-in for compatible Audio-Technica USB microphones. The application is compatib...
16/07/2026
The fifteenth season of The Voice - La plus belle voix on TF1 used four Solid St...
16/07/2026
Gray Media and the Atlanta Hawks have announced a broadcast partnership that wil...
16/07/2026
Season 3 of Netflix's docuseries, which dropped this week, follows Jayden Da...
16/07/2026
The Texas Rangers and Rangers Sports Network presented by Progressive (RSN) have announced BZZR as the new direct-to-consumer distributor for Rangers game broad...
16/07/2026
With England's FIFA World Cup 2026 team getting ready to fly home after losi...
16/07/2026
In a return to Royal Birkdale, the team enjoys partnering with ETP and Gravity M...
16/07/2026
Along with a new studio at Ball Arena, the Colorado-based RSN is working with XR...
16/07/2026
Austria was back at the World Cup for the first time in 28 years, and the team d...
16/07/2026
With 42 RF cameras and high-power radio mics deployed, the spectrum environment ...
16/07/2026
June brought stabilization to the television market. Poles spent an average of 3 hours and 36 minutes a day in front of their TV screens exactly the same as i...
16/07/2026
Glensound returns to IBC with a major new addition to its intelligent loudspeaker range, the Greater Divine Supernal studio monitor, alongside recent developmen...
16/07/2026
33 leading exhibitors are taking part in the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Pavilions and linked locations across IBC2026 (Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September)...
16/07/2026
Hitomi Broadcast will introduce Spectra, a new HDR colour verification solution measured in picture, not using VPID, at IBC2026 (Hall 10, Stand A40). Expanding ...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Zixi, a leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) today announced a strategic new integration to deliver ...
16/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Capture Immersive Flight for New Cirrus App
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Leader in Personal Aviation taps URSA Cin...
16/07/2026
XenData Announces LTO Archive Appliances with both File and S3 Object Storage In...
16/07/2026
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is coming to GeForce NOW at launch, with the playable...
15/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...
15/07/2026
As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...
15/07/2026
HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...
15/07/2026
IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...
15/07/2026
Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...
15/07/2026
New AI-powered module enables broadcasters and content owners to extract dialogu...
15/07/2026
Weeklong gathering at EBU headquarters will test new IPMX capabilities and expand certified product ecosystem...
15/07/2026
Force Tech has announced the appointment of Bryan Adams, CTS, as Vice President of Integration. Adams will oversee AV and broadcast integration project delivery...
15/07/2026
USA Sports has announced an exclusive English-language agreement with the Bundes...
15/07/2026
ITV Sport's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage has been produced from one of the m...
15/07/2026
Program will provide professional camera kits, training, and technical support to participating local newsrooms...
15/07/2026
San Francisco church becomes first U.S. deployment of the 2 M/E production switcher...
15/07/2026
Former ESPN and NFL Network executive to advise startup league on media, distribution, technology, and fan engagement...
15/07/2026
The Houston-based RSN is the live-game home of the Astros and Rockets...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...
15/07/2026
SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...
15/07/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...
15/07/2026
COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...
Live From Daytona 500: SMT Digitizes 62-Year-Old Race With Broadcast, Team Data-Tracking 2D, 3D applications have revolutionized coverage of motorsports By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
