NASCAR experienced a couple of firsts at last month’s Cup Series Championship final. Martin Truex Jr. won his first championship, and NASCAR’s digital team livestreamed pre-race events in 360-degree virtual reality.
NASCAR accomplished the latter by partnering with Ultracast, which is known for next-level video work at motorsports events. “The goal was probably twofold,” Tim Clark, Managing Director of NASCAR’s Digital Media said on the SVG Podcast. “One, we obviously want to bring new content experiences to fans that can’t be at the track. Two was for us to get smarter in the space.”
Via NASCAR.com and the NASCAR mobile app, fans accessed areas of Homestead-Miami Speedway that would’ve previously been unavailable. Cameras walked through the garage giving fans a view of the cars from any angle.
Fans got even closer to the actual race with close-up looks of the national anthem and driver’s pit stops.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
A challenge with the project that Clark described was simply the large-scale nature of the event. With the action being so spread out, they ran into connectivity issues at time that resulted in difficulty with the live stream. As a whole, the digital team considered it a success and hopes the event opened the door for more VR innovation in the future.
“Just generally working with that equipment for the first time was a learning experience, but I think we were thrilled with the way it went,” Clark told SVG. “I think we’re happy with the level of engagement that we saw, and I think more importantly it gives us a good launching pad to go into 2018 and do this more often.”