WATCH LIVE: NASCAR AMERICA at 5 p.m. ET - MotorSportsTalk

On today’s NASCAR AMERICA, at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN:

Rick Allen and Kyle Petty will be in-studio.

Kelli Stavast travels to the Hendrick Motorsports shop in Concord, NC, to speak with Greg Ives, who was named yesterday as the replacement for Steve Letarte as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #88 car, starting next season. Ives is currently crew chief for Chase Elliott, who is leading this season’s Nationwide Series
Current Dale Jr. crew chief, Steve Letarte, calls in from Pocono Raceway to discuss the hiring of his replacement Greg Ives. He’ll explain what input he had in the decision, the qualities he liked in Ives and how he expects Ives and Jr. to get along
Natalie Sather caught up with Darrell Wallace Jr. yesterday at the Kyle Busch Motorsports shop in Mooresville, NC, to talk about his Eldora win last Wednesday, the third Trucks Series win of his career.
Stavast also caught up with Kevin Harvick on Monday to discuss his season so far and he looks ahead to this weekend’s race in Pocono.
The Top-5 finishes in Pocono Raceway history

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