(by Speed Racer, MSR motor sports correspondent)
Recently I had the chance to experience the NASCAR Sprint Cup mobile app on the Galaxy Tab by Samsung. As a lifelong NASCAR follower I will admit that I was skeptical about what this device and application could add to my race-fan experience. I wound up pleasantly surprised, and here is why: The combo of the Galaxy’s smallish size and the many features of the app allowed me to “be live” with race-day coverage in places other than my living room couch.
I rarely go to a race anymore so my fix comes from the TV coverage or sometimes the PRN radio broadcasts. With the Galaxy, I was able to listen to the PRN broadcast if I wanted to, and if you’ve never listened to NASCAR via audio only, they do a great job of bringing the race to life. That alone is a great thing to me as my phone or the Tab can keep me in on what is happening.
The Sprint app also delivers NASCAR text messages to keep you in tune with news as it happens. I like being able to glance at the Galaxy and see what has posted and then go read what I want, when I want to.
When I attend races live (historically at tracks up and down the East coast) I have grown used to listening on the headphones that you can rent or buy that are tuned in to the drivers’ radios. Getting that sheet on race day morning and then tuning into different drivers during the race was always fun and added to my appreciation of what they were doing. So I was really excited when I realized that the Sprint Cup mobile app allowed me to tune into all the drivers’ radios. As a Jimmie Johnson/ Chad Knaus fan I really enjoy their exchanges. I even use an ear bud to isolate the radio chatter to one ear while the broadcast is in the other for the full race-day info immersion.
I have to admit listening to my favorites and hearing the spotter’s info as the drivers hear it is like being a fly on the wall. You really get a feel for how much is going on as they race around a very crowded track fender to fender. One small problem with the Sprint app is that the radio transmission is time-delayed and thus behind the TV image if you are watching simultaneously. I suspect 4G network connections (not yet available for the Tab) will fix this but time will tell. Included in the audio options are the NASCAR officials so at times like when rain is coming or a crash has closed the track you can jump over there and hear the decisions being made.
One thing I was hoping the app would have had was video coverage. It seems like a great opportunity to bring driver cams to the fan (and even an advertising opportunity) in an exciting way. Maybe helmet cams that give the fan the driver’s view for the whole race. Seeing what the driver is seeing and watching what his hands are doing during a great save would be unbeatable. Maybe this is a bandwidth issue I can’t say but it would be very cool. If you’re reading Sprint, maybe this can be added in version 2.0!
Overall this product is a great addition to the NASCAR fan experience. I really enjoy the added data and the additional audio input. The 7-inch screen Galaxy is nicely sized and intuitively controlled with good sound from a very small package. For better or worse If I had to leave the TV, I could actually drop it into my back pocket and listen to PRN for a while. That’s a winning combination for any race fan who can’t stay on the couch for all 500 miles.
