charlotte motor speedway

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  • World's largest HD screen makes its debut tonight during NASCAR All-Star race

    by 
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    05.21.2011

    Keep your (reasonably sized) HDTV tuned to Speed Network this evening to check out the world's largest HD screen for yourself, when it makes its debut during the festivities for the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race. According to a tweet by the Charlotte Motor Speedway the debut should happen at about 6:50 p.m., and the main event race is scheduled to start around 9 p.m. Panasonic and CMS partnered on the new screen and are paying for it by splitting advertising revenue including ads that will appear during the race and promotions like the History Channel's sponsorship of a NASCAR Nationwide race next week. We've already seen virtual racing on the screen when Dale Earnhardt Jr. played some iRacing on it but tonight is the first time the 16,000 square foot 720p LED screen will see real racing action.

  • World's biggest HD screen? Let's play a game on it

    by 
    Alexander Sliwinski
    Alexander Sliwinski
    05.12.2011

    What's the first thing you do after installing the world's largest HD screen, a 16,000-square-foot ocular wonder? Play video games on it! The Charlotte Motor Speedway recently celebrated the installation of a big ol' Panasonic TV by inviting NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. to take a couple of virtual laps on the thing in iRacing (not our first choice, but an apt one, we suppose). The project took 57 workers four months to construct -- totaling more than 11,000 man hours. The structure weighs 332.5 tons and features 158 panels illuminated by 9,000,000 LED lamps. This ginormous 720p display will be pretty much wasted on track replays, standings and stats. So tragic.

  • Charlotte Motor Speedway, Panasonic flip the switch on the world's largest HD screen (video)

    by 
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    05.11.2011

    Charlotte Motor Speedway and Panasonic held an event yesterday to celebrate the completion of the new world's largest HD screen, which measures at 16,000 square feet (200 feet wide and 80 feet tall). Of course, the only natural thing to do when face with a screen this size is to play videogames on it, and CMS got very meta by bringing out NASCAR driver and simulation racing fan Dale Earnhardt Jr. to turn a few laps on the track in iRacing on the brand new display. The 720p display, located on the backstretch, is big enough for fans seated along the front stretch of the track between turn four and turn one to have a clear view of replays, standings and stats all the way across the track. Its official debut will take place May 21st during the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and will also take a turn as a massive HDTV airing clips of Top Gear USA during a History Channel sponsored race the week after. You can see the videogame rig, screen and ceremonial oversized remote above while video of them actually playing is available at the source link. Update: Video is also embedded after the break, via Autoblog. [Thanks, Jeffery]

  • Charlotte Motor Speedway and its huge HD screen will host the Top Gear 300 in May

    by 
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    03.28.2011

    Answering the question of what to do with its massive high definition display, the Charlotte Motor Speedway has teamed up with the History Channel to sponsor its first NASCAR Nationwide race on the schedule, now dubbed the Top Gear 300. During the race, clips from the upcoming second season will play on the 200 foot wide display, although we doubt even that could bring it up to par with the UK version. Still, we'll see what the new season of Top Gear USA has in store, and what it's like to see such a massive screen at a racetrack May 28th.

  • Panasonic, Charlotte Motor Speedway team up for the biggest HD screen ever

    by 
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    09.23.2010

    It's been a bad week for Jerry Jones. Not only are the Cowboys 0-2, but Panasonic and Charlotte Motor Speedway have announced plans to take away his record for the largest HD video screen anywhere. Scheduled to debut in May 2011, the 720p, 16,000 sq ft (200 feet wide, 80 feet tall, 165,000 lbs, more specs are in the press release after the break) LED video wall will be installed along the backstretch between turns 2 and 3 at the race track allowing fans seated on the frontstretch to still see drivers shake and bake all the way around the track. A quick perusal of Wikipedia's list of top videoboards reminds of former contenders for the title -- massive screens at stadiums hosting the Kansas City Royals, Tokyo horse racing, Longhorns football and Miami Dolphins will all drop one more notch on the list.