NASCAR and Fox Sports Steps Up Drone Game

It is beyond doubt that drone cameras are the best bit of technology for capturing high speed sports. The iconic racing body NASCAR and Fox Sports are collaboratively stepping up their drone videography game this weekend at Talladega by introducing the Alta 8, the most advanced drone with a ‘killer look’, to be used as part of on-air broadcasting.

Designed and manufactured by Freefly Systems, the Alta 8 is a sleek and powerful piece of machinery equipped with five-axis camera stabilization, making this drone completely stable even when buffeted by all kinds of wind. This very feature makes the Alta 8 model justifiably priced at $18,000 because with such stability and resulting neat images and videos it is the film camera equivalent of the drone that one could purchase for kids.

Fans will of course want the Alta 8 to get up close and personal with the cars however NASCAR might not let that happen without more intensive testing for the Alta 8 like- wind-tunnel testing to ensure that it won’t accidentally give up the ghost while hovering over the track. After all, a repetition of ‘the camera cables that stopped the Coke 600’ is something NASCAR would definitely like to avoid in its drone coverage.

As of now Fox Sports is upbeat about expanding its use of aerial production drones this weekend teaming with Chapman aerial production at Alabama’s Talladega super Speedway the longest and fastest track on the NASCAR racing circuit to unveil coverage from the newly developed Drone camera unit.

Brad Cheney Fox Sports VP of field operations said, “We started experimenting with aerial drones as a part of our live event coverage more than three years ago” while adding, “with NASCAR we used a tethered Drone at Daytona in 2018 and our first untethered drone floor at Daytona earlier this year but this Talladega Drone camera combination is most advanced to date.”

Alta 8 drone’s newly developed Freefly MoVi carbon camera gimbal with 5 axis camera stabilization and equipped with fujinon 20 to 120 MM lens with the crop factor of the sensor elevating it to a 42-240mm lens.

Fox Sports multi Emmy award winning director Artie Kempner said, “It’s been the vision of a production team and Technical teams at Fox Sports to have Drone cameras as a part of our industry leading forks NASCAR race coverage,” adding that,” it will provide the viewers with dynamic views not seen before in motorsports.”

Free race programming begins Sunday with NASCAR race day at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and the Fox Sports app moving to the fox broadcast Network at 1:30 p.m. ET followed by The Monster Energy NASCAR cup series Geico 500 at 2:00 p.m. ET and is most likely going to be a treat to watch for Racing fans as well as drone enthusiasts.