Telemetry boxes may be optional

MountaineerTom · August 17, 2001

From thatsracin.com

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BROOKLYN, Mich. - Cars will likely not be required to carry the electronic boxes supplying telemetry about their performance and other data for the television broadcast in this weekend's races at Michigan International Speedway.

Paul Brooks, NASCAR's vice president for broadcasting, said Thursday that "is the direction we're heading in" after a battery powering the box in Robby Gordon's Chevrolet caught fire during Sunday's Global Crossing @ The Glen.

"It looks like we're going to make it voluntary for the teams to use the telemetry boxes as well as in-car cameras this weekend," Brooks said. "We're going to talk to the teams and explain what happened and start trying to build their confidence back."

Gordon was in contention for victory in the race at Watkins Glen International when, on Lap 59, he sped down pit road and scampered out of the No. 31 Chevrolet because of the fire.

As appeared to be the case on Sunday, Brooks said it has been determined that the fire originated in a lithium battery that was part of the pack powering the telemetry box in Gordon's car.

Jeff Gordon, who went on to win Sunday's race, said afterward that a similar problem developed in a battery powering an in-car camera in his No. 24 in practice for this year's Daytona 500.

Brooks said the lithium batteries will be replaced by packs of alkaline batteries - basically, flashlight batteries. The packs of alkaline batteries will be slightly heavier than the lithium packs, an issue that might cause some teams - watching every ounce in their cars - to be reluctant about using them.

Brooks put the difference between the two packs at 3 pounds. Cars with in-car cameras must carry more batteries and could pick up 5 to 8 pounds, he said.

Sam Flood, producer for NBC's Watkins Glen broadcast, said earlier this week that while he believes the telemetry information enhances a race telecast, it is secondary.

"The biggest issue is the safety of the driver," Flood said. "We obviously don't want to see anyone hurt. ...We are not going to ask any team to put this equipment back in their cars until we are 100 percent sure nothing bad can happen."

Flood said he has second guessed his decision not to inform viewers what had caught fire in Gordon's car, a decision he said he made because he had conflicting information about the cause.

The box itself, called the "TV box" in many reports, is not built, owned or maintained by the network.

Three companies have agreements with NASCAR that allow them to send and receive data and images to and from cars. The telemetry system is made by Pi Research, which has its systems used in competition in racing circuits worldwide. Broadcast Service Technologies installs and operates the in-car cameras. And Sportvision devised the system that places "bubbles" with car numbers over the cars during the race.

Electronics to service all three of those companies were combined into one box. Beginning with this year's Daytona 500, all 43 cars in the field were required to use them so NASCAR's new television partners could offer viewers real-time data as the cars raced on the track.

Timing and scoring will not be affected if cars elect not to run the telemetry boxes this weekend. NASCAR's timing and scoring system runs off separate transponders located elsewhere on the cars.