Wednesday, January 30, 2013

New Mobile App Allows Fans to Ride Shotgun with Kevin Harvick

Few NASCAR fans ever get the chance to hop into a real Sprint Cup Series car with a top driver and take a few laps, but an upcoming mobile app aims to change all that.

Budweiser, in conjuction with "surround video" specialist yellowBird, spent Tuesday afternoon getting footage on a 360-degree camera as driver Kevin Harvick took laps around Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Budweiser sponsors Harvick's No. 29 Chevrolet. The team used one of Harvick's actual Gen 6 race cars -- the new model NASCAR is introducing this year -- and employed its camera technology in several different angles.

When the free mobile app is launched before next month's Daytona Speedweeks, fans will be able to have a 360-degree view of Harvick's cockpit as he drives at full speed, along with other angles (including a camera hanging out the driver's side window).

"Normally when you do something like this, you do it with a show car, and this wouldn't be right or that wouldn't be right," Harvick told USA TODAY Sports. (More at USA Today)