NASCAR: Helton dismisses RTA concerns, for now - MotorSportsTalk

NASCAR President Mike Helton held an impromptu – and rare – media availability outside the NASCAR hauler this morning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, to address concerns regarding the recently formed Race Teams Alliance.

Primarily, according to reporters on site, Helton said NASCAR will continue to operate as it has and continues to. He also said his and NASCAR’s relationship with the owners is not yet acrimonious.

Here’s some of the quotes, as tweeted out by USA Today’s Nate Ryan, also an NBCSN contributor to NASCAR AMERICA:

Mike Helton says: “We’ve got great respect for all or stakeholders.” Any perception of “animosity is incorrect and unfortunate.” #nascar

— Nate Ryan (@nateryan) July 11, 2014

Mike Helton on future dealings with the RTA: “We’ll continue to do business the way we do business as usual.” #nascar

— Nate Ryan (@nateryan) July 11, 2014

Summarization of #nascar president Mike Helton address: We respect owners. We are working with them. We don’t have further info on the RTA.

— Nate Ryan (@nateryan) July 11, 2014

Main objective of Helton’s 5-min. address seemed dispelling perception that relationship between #nascar and owners had turned acrimonious.

— Nate Ryan (@nateryan) July 11, 2014

For a lighter moment before Helton’s press conference, NASCAR VP/COO Brett Jewkes did take the opportunity to confirm Helton, nor NASCAR, has not signed LeBron James.

@nateryan I can confirm #NASCAR has not signed LeBron.

— Brett Jewkes (@BJewkes) July 11, 2014

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross