I have written about Track Pass before, but it occurs to me that it might need some more explanation. NASCAR offers three different packages for watching Sprint Cup Races on your computer. (to find them go to www.NASCAR.com) They all come with 14 day trial periods. If you are going to be away from a television for a race, you can still watch the race on your computer if the internet is accessible. You can know what is happening on the track while television is playing commercials. You can hear what is being said by your favorite driver’s team, or by the NASCAR Officials. You can watch a race after it is over too. It might be something that you want to consider purchasing.
Track Pass Scanner allows you to listen to an individual team’s audio communications, or to scan all of the 43 drivers. Or you can listen to the NASCAR Officials. You can switch between these selections any time during the race. If the driver you are following is off the track during the race, you can still listen to what is being said over their head sets in the garage, or you can switch to a different driver. Track Pass Scanner costs $4.95 a month or $29.95 a year. It is included in both of the other packages.
Track Pass Pit Command has lots of options in addition to those included in the Scanner. You can listen to the MRN (Motor Racing News) broadcast of Cup qualifying, as well as Truck, Nationwide and Cup races or you can listen to those things that you could hear via the Scanner. At the top of the page there is a flag that shows what color flag the race is under at the moment and how long the track has been under those conditions; a picture of the leader of the race; a chart that shows the time of the race, the number of leaders, the number of lead changes and the number of cautions. Beneath that header there are four options to choose from to watch on your computer.
The Leaderboard has a chart which includes: a listing of each driver by position on the track; the make of car they drive; their time behind the leader in seconds; how fast each car was on the last lap and on its fastest lap; the starting position of the driver; the number of laps lead; and their points total for the season.
The Track Top Ten includes a visualization of the track with small circles with car numbers that shows their position on the track. The visualization has traps that can be moved to different places around the track. The leader’s speed at each trap is shown. There is a chart to the left with the top ten cars in their order on the track, the time off the leader, their speed and their RPM.
The Dashboard shows the dashboard of two drivers of your choice, their position on the track and their time off the leader. It has a speedometer dial as well as the speed shown in numerals; a green graphic for the percentage of throttle and a red graphic for the percentage of break that both drivers are using.
Viewer’s Choice includes the track visualization with traps as well as a chart to the left. This chart can be moved up and down so that you can see the position of all the drivers. That way you don’t have to wait for the crawl across the top of your television to get to any driver to see where he is at any minute during the race. It shows the time off the leader of all the cars and gives you the option of watching the Speed, RPM Throttle percentage or Break percentage of all the cars. It also gives you control of the little circles with the driver’s numbers that travel around the track. You can show them all or hide them all and then pick specific ones to change or you can choose to watch just those cars on the lead lap.
Not only can you watch the race, but you can also watch qualifying. There is a chart across the top where there are places for each car’s number to be placed, including spaces for those who don’t make the race. The numbers move along as cars place in front of them. There is a track visualizer where you can watch two circles proceed around the track. One will be the leader and one will be the current qualifier. To the left you can compare the use of throttle and break to that of the current leader. It also shows who is next to qualify. It makes it easy to see who is where during qualifying without having to wait for the crawl on the television. It costs $64.95 or $9.95 a month.
Race View is as good, or better than watching the race on television. This package includes the other two and has additional features as well. First there is a virtual camera view of whatever driver you choose. You can watch that driver from above, from in front so you can see who is gaining on him, or from behind, so you can see who he is catching. You can change this view during the race. You can rewind too so that you can go back and check exactly what just happened. You can watch races after they are over too. So if you want to see what happened to one driver during the race you can watch it with him and if you later want to see it from a different point of view, you can do that. If you like a driver that is not going to be shown very often on the television this is one way to follow what is happening around him during the race. Since this package includes both Pit Command and Scanner Features you can still listen to anyone. You can also put the camera view of a driver and put up Pit Command at the same time. By moving the Pit Command over you can watch the tiny dots go around the track as well as watch what is happening with your favorite driver. It gives you the best of both worlds. There are charts available that are similar to those in Pit Command. You can put the drivers on the chart in the order of their points or in the order that they are in on the track. It also includes the Scanner so you can listen too. At $79.95 a year or $12.95 a month it is a bit pricy, but well worth the cost. It is certainly the only way that you can see what is happening with one of those mid to lower tier drivers.
I hope this has explained the features of Track Pass. If you want to follow NASCAR Races in depth this product will definitely enhance your race watching experience. It is a lot to take in. Certain features will work better for different people. Eventually you find the features that work best for you. Each package offers a 14 day free trial for you to try it out. Help is available by telephone an hour before through an hour after each race, as well as weekdays during normal office hours. One caution, the language of some of the drivers over the scanner might not be what you would want children to hear. That also increases your knowledge of the person speaking. It certainly adds to my appreciation and enjoyment of a race
