Nascar Potentially Going Where No Motorsport Has Gone Before, To The Moon

NASCAR is boldly going where no motorsports have gone before. Sort of.

NASCAR and Leidos
LDOS
recently announced a partnership that could see elements of a future NASA Artemis lunar rover contain automotive design, manufacturing, and the experience of a NASCAR team including branding, on the surface of the moon.

NASA’s Artemis program marks the return to the moon for humans for the first time since 1972. Unlike the Apollo program, much of what’s needed for Artemis comes from private contractors, and that will include the vehicle future astronauts will use to travel on the surface of the moon.

Dynetics, a subsidiary of Leidos, has submitted a bid for the new lunar rover, what Dynetics is calling a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), and NASCAR is a part of it. The partnership and the unveiling of the vehicle prototype took place at the Space Foundation’s 38th annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado in April.

“NASCAR’s capability in engineering and high-performance vehicles to operate in extreme conditions is obviously relevant to building and operating a sustainable LTV,” Jonathan Pettus, senior vice president for aerospace, defense, and civil operations at Dynetics said. “Their focus on speed, agility, safety, and maintainability are extremely relevant to the LTV program, and we are proud to bring their expertise to the table on this groundbreaking project.”

So what will NASCAR’s expertise involve?

“Specifically, their experience in addressing maintenance and support with a rapid pit-stop mentality is crucial for us,” Pettus said. “And we are confident they will help us with design for maintainability and agile part replacement. At both NASA and NASCAR, safety is a crucial aspect of any design, and our team is excited to leverage their experience to ensure we maximize safety with this vehicle.”

For NASCAR the partnership is about celebrating the past while looking forward to the future.

“In our 75^th anniversary season, as a sport we are making sure we pay homage to our rich history, our passionate fan base and how we got to where we are today,” said Peter Jung NASCAR senior VP and CMO. “At the same time, we are looking forward to what’s in store for our sport over the next 75 years and it’s no secret that technology and innovation are huge components of where we’re headed.”

The partnership is about more than marketing.

“When you draw those parallels between our companies through the lens of space exploration, this partnership makes so much sense,” Jung said. “In terms of promotion, working with Leidos will not only bring awareness to their moon-centric missions, but it will also help those not as familiar with NASCAR better understand our priorities in the aforementioned areas when we think about the future of the sport.

“When it comes to collaboration, there is so much opportunity to share information and best practices on topics such as speed, safety, reliability and sustainability – all initiatives that are important to both companies.”

Jung confirmed that the LTV will have some sort of NASCAR signage, which was seen on the prototype LTV on display at Talladega Superspeedway after the partnership announcement in April.

“More plans are in the works for Leidos and NASCAR to promote the partnership at future NASCAR events,” he said.

For Leidos, the NASCAR opportunity will help not only with promotion but with engineering assistance. Roush Industries was founded by NASCAR team owner Jack Roush.

“We’re excited to be working with Roush Industries as a partner on our Lunar Terrain Vehicle,” Pettus said. “Building off their reputation as a company that solves some of the auto industry’s toughest challenges, Roush is providing automotive chassis, suspension, handling, and controls experience.”

Leidos isn’t new to NASCAR. The company signed on as a primary sponsor with 23XI Racing and driver Bubba Wallace last year. Jung said that sponsorship started the discussion about a bigger collaboration.

“We’ve been in conversations together about partnership for a while,” Jung said. “And as the opportunity came about for Leidos to design and build this LTV, we increased discussions on how we might be able to help them optimize the initiative. We both felt this was a perfect partnership that could be mutually beneficial as two companies with knowledge and expertise in areas that complement each other perfectly.”

For Leidos sponsored driver Wallace, space isn’t something he ever really thought too much about.

“The closest thing that I got to space was probably the movie Armageddon,” Wallace said laughing. “I didn’t really have any special ties to it, but I mean, I, I kind of always found it interesting and the depth of conversations that you can get into, especially nowadays of just how crazy space and the universe is the galaxy and is there other forms of life out there somewhere, you know, that’s definitely interesting.”

Wallace said that there are some parallels between NASCAR and what Leidos is proposing for the moon. He had his first look at the LTV at Talladega when the company unveiled a prototype.

“Well, I mean, we’re building something you can drive, right?” he said. “…speeds are a little bit slower.”

“Looking at the rover last week at Talladega, they were kind of giving me the specs on it. I think about 15 miles an hour… I guess that’s a post victory speed,” he added laughing.

“But I think, you know, the more we learn and grow with NASCAR and Leidos I’m sure there will be a lot more dots to connect. I’m excited to see where that goes.”

Wallace admits he never could have imagined seeing NASCAR branding on the moon.

“NASCAR has evolved really a lot over the last 10 years in, in multiple ways. Am I surprised now? Yes, but no, because, you know, who knows?

“You know, the world’s changing every day. Life’s changing every day. Our sanctioning body is changing every day. It’s cool to see and just proud to be a part of it. And for us to play a, a small role is pretty humbling. I mean we’re trying to see how more efficient we can be from things that we learn on a different planet… that’s mind boggling.

“I’m sure the info that they gather on the moon, we may be able to utilize in our sport one day.”

Currently, there are no other proposals for a lunar rover making Dynetics the frontrunner. The award will be announced in June of this year with the first landing on the moon tentatively scheduled for 2025. It may be only a few short years before people all over the world see NASCAR in a place where no motorsport has gone before.

“NASCAR is excited about our promotional partnership with Leidos,” Jung said. “Our partnership can take us to the moon – and potentially beyond.”