Cross-industry

NASCAR uses Windows 8 and Surface

17 December 2012

Microsoft and Toyota Racing Development (TRD) have developed a new Windows 8 application for NASCAR, which can be deployed on Microsoft Surface tablets.

One of the biggest differentiators between TRD and our competition is that we have invested very heavily in Windows software

Steve Wickham, Toyota Racing Development TRD’s Trackside app deliver efficient trackside information exchanges at the track and improves the speed and accuracy of communications between the race car driver and racing team crew chief.

Drivers can access the app, which was developed for use among its NASCAR-affiliated teams, on tablet PCs without having to get out of the car.

The crew chief uses the Trackside app to input performance data on a Windows 8-powered tablet inside the garage or on the team’s race car carrier/machine shop, also known as a hauler, during practice runs, and passes the tablet to the driver to allow for fast and easy communication on performance.

During the race, the team uses the app to monitor performance and to spotlight other drivers to compare their times against competitors. The crew chief is then able to quickly relay that information to the driver, which allows teams to speed up trackside tuning and develop winning race strategies on the fly.

“One of the biggest differentiators between TRD and our competition is that we have invested very heavily in Windows software,” said Steve Wickham, VP of Chassis Operations at Toyota Racing Development. “Our teams have such a vested interest in staying one step ahead of the competition, they’ve been asking for ways that we can enhance communications even further and wanted a more mobile computing platform that could be used trackside.”

RAB Racing is the first team to deploy the solution.

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