Taking a step back from the on-track action and the drivers, it’s important to note just how exciting watching a race in any motorsport category is. It’s slowly becoming one of the most exciting times of the weekend for many fans.

While F1’s clever use of the Las Vegas sphere at the inaugural GP was the talk of the town for weeks, this time around, it’s the homegrown series that is aiming to introduce a major technological evolution to the way fans get to experience NASCAR races from home.

NASCAR’s president believes the future of broadcasting lies in VR

It’s no secret that virtual reality and the idea of elevating human experiences with its use have been around ever since the dawn of science fiction. But while movies like Ready Player One were just a fantasy a decade ago, the progress made by the VR industry in the past few years speaks volumes about the impact it’s going to have soon. In 2024, both the Meta Quest 3 and the Apple Vision Pro will kick off the year strong for VR, and NASCAR aims to make full use of such innovations.

Until this point, the development of motorsport broadcasting has only expanded to showcasing additional trackside data or drivers on boards, but nothing in real-time is any different from the traditional ways. So far, VR motorsport experiences have been limited to pre-recorded footage. We’ve all seen how those dynamic onboards posted by teams look from a 360-degree field of view, but with what NASCAR is planning, fans can expect to be in the driver’s seat themselves. That too in real-time!

During the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, NASCAR President Steve Phelps revealed how the sport has been hard at work to elevate the home viewing experience like never before. Phelps was quoted by SBJ, “One idea that we’re contemplating is, in real-time, participating in the race. As the race is going on with 40 cars, you are the 41st car. You’re participating as part of that AR/VR experience, which would be really cool.”

With how technologically advanced motorsport has become, NASCAR has access to an unfathomable amount of track telemetry and live data from the car’s plethora of sensors. This means the sport could put this very data into use to create 3D-rendered versions of real cars in a virtual space, allowing fans to join in and test their mettle against some of their favorites.

While SBJ reported that fans cannot wreck cars or interact with objects, it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be quite a challenging experience. As Phelps himself stated, “I’d crash on the first lap,” It’s also worth mentioning that development on this project began on the Meta platform but will also be optimized for the Vision Pro. This means fans could soon be driving around the Daytona 500 and seeing the action unfold from within a virtual race car, perhaps even witnessing the Big One first-hand!

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Although the release of such a viewing experience may yet be more than a stone’s throw away, it didn’t stop NASCAR fans from jumping with excitement as they discussed the possibilities on X.

Fans are gearing up to outrun their favorite drivers in VR soon

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With such an exciting announcement catching the fans off guard, some chimed in to share how they would channel their inner William Byron; “From my couch to victory lane.” While insiders such as Brock Beard also stated; “Cool, I can do my own LAST CHANGE as a post-entry! It’s funny this has come up – in an upcoming video of mine, you’ll see how long such an idea has been in the works.”

Moving to the technical side of things, fans were also excited to have a sound reason for using a VR headset at last. One user expressed, “Finally, a reason to use the VR set.” while another added, “Wow. Might actually invest in a headset now. I think every Motorsport should do this.” With the Apple Vision Pro costing well over $2500, it’s safe to say fans definitely want the experience to be worthwhile.

However, for fans thinking solely of the action, it couldn’t get any more exciting! A user was immediately gearing up to take the right to Denny Hamlin and Co. as they shared, “Why I gotta be 41st though? I WANNA GO FAST” while some shared lower expectations; “Just give me a streaming 360 VR from the cockpit.”

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With that said, it’s safe to say the future of watching a Cup Series from the comfort of your home is going to be evolutionary. But when do you think such a goal is achievable, realistically?