Last season, the TNT gang offered a new slice of technology to complement the TV coverage of the Sprint Cup Series. It was called RaceBuddy and was an online companion to the standard one-channel one-network TV coverage. It was an instant hit.
RaceBuddy offered the user an opportunity to view the TNT broadcast on TV and play on the Internet at the same time. That is music to the ears of many tech-savvy NASCAR fans. RaceBuddy contained live video from multiple TV camera angles and the audio from several team radios. Users got to choose what to see and hear.
Saturday night, NASCAR.com will be offering a mini-version of RaceBuddy for fans to use during the All-Star race. As one might imagine, the creative minds all got together and called it All-Star Buddy.
One click on the right side of the NASCAR.com website opens a pop-up page that contains the template for the All-Star offering. There will be four additional in-car cameras offered and perhaps some other goodies. This one-night special is a good reminder of just how badly NASCAR needs this for every race all season long.
The drivers who will be featured with in-car angles are Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. It is not quite clear right now if the audio that goes along with the pictures will be the natural sound from the car or the team radio conversations.
In the politically correct climate in which we live, the team radios may well be censored because tempers tend to get a little hot and the All-Star race is a winner take almost all format.
NASCAR fans should certainly be aware that a free offering awaits them at NASCAR.com on Saturday night. All that is needed is a computer with broadband access and the experience of watching the All-Star race can be turned into a true multimedia experience.
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