e-mail this

AMA Pro Racing press release

AMA Pro Racing recently hosted a unique timing and scoring conference with officials from the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, Indy Racing League (IRL) and Champ Car World Series at its headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio, on January 13.

The conference, proposed by AMA Pro Racing Director of Timing and Scoring Ken Rogers to bring together each North American sanctioning body currently using the AMB-i.t. Timegear timing and scoring system, was held to discuss operational challenges and share best practices of each group.

Joining Rogers at the first-ever summit were NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Director of Timing & Scoring Steve Lowery, Indy Racing League Director of Timing & Scoring Jon Koskey and Champ Car World Series Director of Timing & Scoring Bill Skibbe. AMB-i.t. based in The Netherlands, was represented by Boris Nagels, the chief software designer of the innovative Timegear software.

“Every motorsports sanctioning body faces similar challenges,” Rogers said. “After discussing our idea with NASCAR, Champ Car and the IRL, we all felt this conference would be a very productive way to explore solutions that can be used by each of our organizations.”

Among the items discussed were hardware set-up, software applications, staffing issues and the evolution of traditional timing and scoring functions into comprehensive mobile information technology services. Group members also compared notes on how they transmit information using the Timegear system.

While there are commonalities among the various sanctioning bodies, each organization approaches timing and scoring functions a little differently. “The Champ Car Series and IRL each rely on the individual tracks’ wiring infrastructures to transmit information, and NASCAR uses a portable fiber optic network,” Rogers said. “AMA Pro Racing is really the only series that uses wireless connectivity to relay information from each remote timing point.”

As these four organizations are the primary sanctioning bodies in the world using the Timegear multi-point timing software, Rogers said the collective feedback shared by all four organizations will be used by Nagels and his team to generate updated software releases. Additionally, all four groups have initiated plans to expand the conference into an annual multi-discipline event.

top

Copyright AMA Pro Racing, 2005.