Toyota Racing Development team to use Windows 8 app for NASCAR

Toyota Racing Development (TRD) team to use Windows 8 Trackside app to improve performance of teams competing in NASCAR races

Running on Windows Surface Pro hardware, the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) team has created a Windows 8 app to improve performance of teams competing in NASCAR races by providing real-time data.

The development of the car, crew and drivers is paramount for racing teams where the collaborative feedback defines success.   These responses have to be detailed, effective and real-time for a racing team to benefit in such a competitive and potentially dangerous sport and pointed out by TRD in its press release.    

Darren Jones, group lead for software development at TRD explains, "For Toyota teams to finish first on the track, we must also be the first to innovate our technologies behind the scenes.  We chose Windows 8 because we get enterprise-ready security and management, the familiarity of the Windows development environment, and a fully capable touch-enabled interface."

Previously, drivers and crew chiefs has to record racing performance data during practice on a laptop or using a pencil and paper.  This meant sometimes waiting until the drivers had left the cars to review the performance and well as feeding back what happened on the track.  "The Trackside app for Windows 8 on Surface Pro allows TRD to spend more time driving and less time in the garage reviewing performance data, with a touch-based mobile tablet that can go from portable note taker to a high-performance monitor in less time than it takes to change even one tire," explains Jason Campbell, group product marketing manager at Microsoft.

Steve Wickham, TRD's vice president of chassis operations, echoed this sentiment, "Trackside running on Surface Pro means more time is spent on the track and less time is spent talking.?

"Teams are back on the track faster, allowing them more time to determine the optimum setup for the race car. Our mission is to take advantage of the latest innovation in technology to quickly get better data ? which translates into faster cars on the track," added Campbell.

The Windows 8 Trackside app developed for the Surface Pro allows all of the team to share performance data through the touch-based app in real-time to perfect the team (e.g. the drivers, crew, mechanics) as a whole.  By having the Trackside app on a mobile device enables information and feedback to be share quicker and more efficiently than before.

TRD has been developing racing software on the Windows platform since 2007. RAB Racing with Brack Maggard is one of the first Toyota teams in the NASCAR Nationwide Series to use the new Trackside solution.

See more about the Windows Trackside app and how it is used by the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) team in the video below where a driver and crew can be seen passing Surface Pro back and forth into the cars.




Surface Pro, part of Microsoft?s series of tablets was release in February 2013.



Got a good news story? Tell us at SMP contact.