NASCAR Revs Up Data Center On Wheels

A state of the art Mobile Technology Center will serve as the ongoing at-track home base for NASCAR's Timing and Scoring system and provide a platform to launch additional technology initiatives. The center, which establishes a consistent high-tech workspace for NASCAR to collect and process timing and scoring data, debuts at the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

"The MTC gives us a starting point for improving the systems providing accurate and immediate race data, processing that data for more sophisticated NASCAR statistics, announcing results and sharing race information with fans and media," Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president for competition said in a prepared statement. "At the track, the MTC will help NASCAR to operate even more efficiently."

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), NASCAR's official technology partner, powers servers that process more than half a million data points, using more than 40 AMD Opteron processor-based servers and AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology-based laptops at each race. Tissot, NASCAR's official timekeeper, is striving toward increased accuracy of "freeze the field," which is the procedure NASCAR follows once the caution flag is issued.

Researchers are looking into the role the MTC can play in safety, competition, cost-savings, security, credentialing, statistics and inspections. NASCAR already uses RFID.

The MTC hauler, with AMD and Tissot logos, will be in the television compound at each NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event.