T
TonyB
Guest
http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/cup/02/25/mmcswain_trackpass/index.html
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael "Fatback" McSwain won't be able to lead Ricky Rudd's crew this weekend at California Speedway, but thanks to Nextel TrackPass on NASCAR.COM, Racing Radios and Nextel, Rudd will still have a crew chief.
TrackPass to help McSwain run race team
By Lee Montgomery, NASCAR.COM
February 25, 2005
03:04 PM EST (20:04 GMT)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael "Fatback" McSwain won't be able to lead Ricky Rudd's crew this weekend at California Speedway, but thanks to Nextel TrackPass on NASCAR.COM, Racing Radios and Nextel, Rudd will still have a crew chief.
Fatback McSwain
McSwain underwent outpatient back surgery Friday in North Carolina, and doctors wouldn't let him travel to Fontana, Calif. this weekend for the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.
But from his home in Mooresville, N.C., McSwain will have a direct line to his team through the electronic technology of Nextel, Racing Radios and TrackPass.
"As soon as we found out Fatback would have to have his surgery this week we started exploring possible options for communication," Wood Brothers co-owner Eddie Wood said. "In the process we discovered between Nextel and Racing Radios we would be able to hook up a line of direct contact between Fatback, Ricky, team engineer Hoyt Overbagh and me. Fatback will be able to monitor the race as it progresses in real time on NASCAR.COM."
McSwain had a microendoscopic procedure on the L-5 disc in his back Friday morning to correct a problem that was discovered when he returned from Daytona. McSwain had back surgery in late 2004, but doctors advised him to have an immediate procedure to correct the current problem. He was able to return to his home after Friday's outpatient surgery.
The team plans to communicate with McSwain during practice sessions at the track Friday afternoon, before qualifying on Saturday and during the race on Sunday.
"The positive part of this is that we had a real good test in California," McSwain said. "We were happy when we came home. That makes it a little easier. If we hadn't tested out there with this new aero package and we were going out there green, it would be different."
Racing Radios set up an interface with its two-way radio system to convert the audio to a signal Rudd and the team can hear in real time.
"It will be just as if Fatback is at the racetrack sitting on the pit box," Racing Radios president Chris Thornton said. "The team will be able to provide him with the information he needs to make decisions on pit stops, set up changes to the car and tire pressures during the race on Sunday.
"This is the first time we have ever set up this type of communication so that a team could have two-way direct contact with someone away from the track during an event. The technology has been available for some time, but it has never been utilized. We have worked with Wood Brothers Racing for years, and we are certainly pleased that we can provide this service for Fatback and his crew."
Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said there was no hesitation in granting the team's request.
"The team could have very simply accomplished everything they're doing with the use of a cell phone," Darby said. "Using a Nextel with the two-way would have been even better, yet. So, what happened is the outside world picked up the ball and ran with it to make it something big and huge and everything.
"It was never an issue with NASCAR because obviously everyone in the garage has got cell phones and plenty of Nextel cell phones and plenty of radios. So what this thing has snowballed into is not from the Wood Brothers and not from NASCAR -- it's from the outside world wanting to take advantage of the situation and have some fun with it."
McSwain will also be able to follow Rudd's on-track activity through TrackPass, a paid content service on NASCAR.COM that has provided hundreds of thousands of fans live track coverage of Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series events.
It features PitCommand, an innovative, live streaming GPS telemetry application that tracks the position of all 43 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series cars in real-time in addition to showing RPM, throttle and brake usage, time behind leader, fastest lap speed and time, and a driver's current lap speed and time.
Also available is live in-car audio of top Nextel Cup Series drivers for every race and weekly exclusive multimedia features.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael "Fatback" McSwain won't be able to lead Ricky Rudd's crew this weekend at California Speedway, but thanks to Nextel TrackPass on NASCAR.COM, Racing Radios and Nextel, Rudd will still have a crew chief.
TrackPass to help McSwain run race team
By Lee Montgomery, NASCAR.COM
February 25, 2005
03:04 PM EST (20:04 GMT)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael "Fatback" McSwain won't be able to lead Ricky Rudd's crew this weekend at California Speedway, but thanks to Nextel TrackPass on NASCAR.COM, Racing Radios and Nextel, Rudd will still have a crew chief.
Fatback McSwain
McSwain underwent outpatient back surgery Friday in North Carolina, and doctors wouldn't let him travel to Fontana, Calif. this weekend for the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.
But from his home in Mooresville, N.C., McSwain will have a direct line to his team through the electronic technology of Nextel, Racing Radios and TrackPass.
"As soon as we found out Fatback would have to have his surgery this week we started exploring possible options for communication," Wood Brothers co-owner Eddie Wood said. "In the process we discovered between Nextel and Racing Radios we would be able to hook up a line of direct contact between Fatback, Ricky, team engineer Hoyt Overbagh and me. Fatback will be able to monitor the race as it progresses in real time on NASCAR.COM."
McSwain had a microendoscopic procedure on the L-5 disc in his back Friday morning to correct a problem that was discovered when he returned from Daytona. McSwain had back surgery in late 2004, but doctors advised him to have an immediate procedure to correct the current problem. He was able to return to his home after Friday's outpatient surgery.
The team plans to communicate with McSwain during practice sessions at the track Friday afternoon, before qualifying on Saturday and during the race on Sunday.
"The positive part of this is that we had a real good test in California," McSwain said. "We were happy when we came home. That makes it a little easier. If we hadn't tested out there with this new aero package and we were going out there green, it would be different."
Racing Radios set up an interface with its two-way radio system to convert the audio to a signal Rudd and the team can hear in real time.
"It will be just as if Fatback is at the racetrack sitting on the pit box," Racing Radios president Chris Thornton said. "The team will be able to provide him with the information he needs to make decisions on pit stops, set up changes to the car and tire pressures during the race on Sunday.
"This is the first time we have ever set up this type of communication so that a team could have two-way direct contact with someone away from the track during an event. The technology has been available for some time, but it has never been utilized. We have worked with Wood Brothers Racing for years, and we are certainly pleased that we can provide this service for Fatback and his crew."
Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said there was no hesitation in granting the team's request.
"The team could have very simply accomplished everything they're doing with the use of a cell phone," Darby said. "Using a Nextel with the two-way would have been even better, yet. So, what happened is the outside world picked up the ball and ran with it to make it something big and huge and everything.
"It was never an issue with NASCAR because obviously everyone in the garage has got cell phones and plenty of Nextel cell phones and plenty of radios. So what this thing has snowballed into is not from the Wood Brothers and not from NASCAR -- it's from the outside world wanting to take advantage of the situation and have some fun with it."
McSwain will also be able to follow Rudd's on-track activity through TrackPass, a paid content service on NASCAR.COM that has provided hundreds of thousands of fans live track coverage of Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series events.
It features PitCommand, an innovative, live streaming GPS telemetry application that tracks the position of all 43 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series cars in real-time in addition to showing RPM, throttle and brake usage, time behind leader, fastest lap speed and time, and a driver's current lap speed and time.
Also available is live in-car audio of top Nextel Cup Series drivers for every race and weekly exclusive multimedia features.