Inside View

Broadcast Sports Technologies Takes You For the Ride of Your Life

It's 9:15 on Friday morning at the NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals, and Tom Smith is hard at work on Greg Anderson's new Summit Racing Equipment-sponsored Pro Stock Pontiac Grand Am. He'll spend between an hour and an hour-and-a-half working inside and outside of the car, doing his best to make sure you see Anderson go all the way to the winners circle.

No, Smith isn't a member of Anderson's Summit Racing team. He’s an In-Car Camera Technician for another successful and highly respected group called Broadcast Sports Technologies.

Broadcast Sports Technologies is the company that brings you the in-car and roof-top camera views during ESPN2's coverage of NHRA drag racing. And much like the drag racers they capture on film, the guys at Broadcast Sports Technologies have their profession down to a science.

As Smith finishes mounting a roof-cam and an interior 360° camera on Greg Anderson's Grand Am, he shares a laugh with the Pro Stock points leader, who is working on the other side of the car. "Most of the racers are pretty cooperative," Smith told us. "We kind of work around what these guys are doing and try to make it as painless as possible."

Once the cameras are installed—an hour to an hour-and-a-half job—Smith contacts the Broadcast Sports production booth, which is located just outside the track. Working with Operations EIC Reid Ritter, who controls the cameras from the booth, Smith tests out the cameras to make sure they’re operational. After testing, he then works with Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Coordinator Kirk Heinbuch to place Summit decals where they'll be most to visible to the viewing audience.

After the cameras and the decals are in place, it’s up to Reid Ritter to make sure the cameras catch all the action. Ritter and Smith have worked other sporting events, including CART, NASCAR, and IRL, but say drag racing presents some unique challenges. “All that excess vibration in Funny Car and Top Fuel cars can cause problems with the camera, but they hold up well, though,” Smith said. “It’s a challenge because it’s over so fast,” Ritter added. “Either you’re on or you miss it.”

For the NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals, he’ll have to be on as he controls cameras in five different cars, including Greg Anderson’s Grand Am. Ritter’s “office” in the production booth includes several tape machines, TV monitors, a computer monitor, and a joystick. Signals from each camera continually monitor the cars and the footage is fed into a tape machine back at the production booth. "If something breaks in the pits, we’ll have the footage to fit into the storyline,” Ritter explained.

Once the camera-equipped cars are ready to race, Ritter’s job really begins. Using the computer monitor and special software, he can select which vehicle to monitor, then switch back and forth between cameras. The computer also allows him to adjust the color brightness and black level of the feed coming in from the cameras, so ESPN2 viewers get a clear, bright view of the action. “I’ll usually make those adjustments as the cars are approaching the backside of the tower,” Ritter explained. “Puffy, rolling clouds are the hardest weather conditions to deal with because of the variable light. Days that are overcast, or clear, blue skies are the best to work with.”

Following instructions from his director, Ritter uses a joystick mounted on the production board to toggle back and forth between cameras at race time. The joystick also gives him control of the 360 degree interior cameras, allowing him to pan side-to-side. Once the race is over, footage from the Broadcast Sports cameras are spliced into the ESPN2 coverage of the event, giving the audience a unique view of the sport they love.

Broadcast Sports Technologies covers many other events besides NHRA drag racing, including NASCAR, IRL, football, and X-Games. In fact, the Top Fuelers and Funny Cars aren’t even the fastest vehicles they work with. “We do stuff with the Department of Defense and NASA,” Ritter said. “Our cameras are on the shuttle right now and when you see footage from a launch on the news, those are our cameras.”

Nothing pumps the adrenaline like a good, hard launch—and the guys at Broadcast Sports Technologies can deliver the proof.