NASCAR Cam HD in Race Shops

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Source: MotorSport.com

Race shops to receive NASCAR Cam HD
Racing series NASCAR
Date 2008-01-29
NASCAR Puts NASCAR Cam HD™In Race Shops

Chip Ganassi Racing With Felix Sabates Becomes First Team To Use Glowpoint's 'HD Over IP'

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Jan. 29, 2008) -- Furthering its commitment to provide the closest access to its competitors and officials while making the sport easier for media to cover, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) today announced an initiative to put NASCAR Cam HD™ -- a state-of-the-art HD video communications tool -- into race shops to deliver off-track news content to the media nationwide.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates was the first team to adopt the new technology. NASCAR Cam HD™ debuted on Jan 22 with a streaming video interview with driver Dario Franchitti that fans can see on various internet news sites (click here to view an example of the streaming video (ESPN - NASCAR Racing Schedule, News, Results, and Drivers - Auto Racing).

Earlier this year, NASCAR became the first major professional sport to adopt two-way HD video-over-IP, when it signed a multi-year agreement with Glowpoint, Inc. (OTC:GLOW), a leading broadcast-quality, IP-based managed video service provider, to provide a fully-managed service for delivering two-way High Definition (HD) video interviews over Glowpoint's dedicated IP Network. Glowpoint has been providing its IP-based NASCAR Cam HD™ broadcast solution to several NASCAR industry locations.

"I think this is a great opportunity for both our team and all of our partners," said John Olguin, vice president of communications for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. "We are in a constant mode of trying to find the latest technology in order to better tell our teams' and our sponsors' stories. This gives us the opportunity to get our drivers, teams and sponsors in front of a number of additional media outlets -- anywhere in the country -- right from our race shop."

The multi-year agreement with Glowpoint includes service to NASCAR Media Group's production facilities in Charlotte, N.C., the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., and other key NASCAR industry locations in North Carolina. Additionally, service will be provided to NASCAR's main headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla. NASCAR Cam HD™ will provide the NASCAR industry with the ability to acquire content such as driver interviews in between races, and then distribute that content to key media outlets for television broadcast via Glowpoint or traditional satellite feeds.

"NASCAR believes in using the latest technology to enhance our viewership and public awareness. We have been setting up the infrastructure to work with NASCAR Cam HD™, and it is great to see Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates embrace this terrific new tool," said Jay Abraham, chief operating officer, NASCAR Media Group. "We have been talking with other teams and believe they will soon want to have NASCAR Cam HD™ in their shops to generate more exposure for drivers, teams and their sponsors."

Glowpoint CEO Michael Brandofino added, "NASCAR drivers are so used to working with the latest technology. It is gratifying to see them adopt Glowpoint as a valuable tool. We look forward to this program expanding to more teams and their sponsors as well."