So, what does that have to do with this year's racing? Fox has included a new weapon in it's arsenal against monotonous NASCAR races: the Gyrocam. It's been used for some time in the motorsports world (mostly on motorcycles), but now they've mounted a few inside our favorite Nascar driver's cars.
Take a peek at this simulation here:
Immediately when I saw this I remembered how it felt to drive our own vehicle around the speedway. The tilt helps me to have a better understanding of the relationship between car, driver, and road. Now the viewer can see how difficult it must be to pass and turn on such a high degree turn. What the video doesn't show, which I explain in more detail on the blog I mentioned above, is that the banking actually forces you down the track, so you have to steer somewhat toward the wall to keep from falling down on the apron. Whatever you are thinking, just know that it's not a simple U-turn.
For our NASCAR Newbs out there, the degree of banking (what Nascar calls the angle and tilt of the turns) has a proportional affect on the speed at which the drivers can travel. So, the more banking, the higher the potential speed. Here's a great article on that nascar fact, as well as the difference between dirt and track racing: HERE.
Once we have some actual racing with these cameras, I'll post a video below, and while it's against what's socially acceptable in NASCAR to want to see a wreck, I can't wait to see the result of a gyrocam in a flipped car.
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