(Photo by SSG Marcus Butler, USASOC Public Affairs)
This photo shows (From left to right) NASCAR President Mike Helton, North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, USASOC Commanding General Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland and Executive Director of the North Carolina Military Foundation Lance DeSpain. They were all together last week at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida to announce the historic partnership to make military vehicles safer for Special Operations Soldiers and to share innovations benefiting all parties involved.
It’s an interesting proposition. The NC ‘automotive’ industry aka NASCAR will share technical data with USASOC (and vice versa) that might assist the other. In my opinion, there may well be some safety technologies or TTPs that come out of this but considering the drastic difference between a GMVS and a highly modified sprint car, I wouldn’t expect much more. This just feels ‘gimmicky’.
Maybe that’s why everyone in the photo looks so unhappy to be there.
I would agree that this doesn’t make much sense. Stock cars that travel on a level surface at speeds between 100 and 200 MPH are a lot different than vehicles that travel much slower over rough terrain. Some safety technologies are interchangeable I’ll grant you, but the things that save Stock Car Drivers’ lives are going to be a lot different outside of helmets and seat belts. I don’t see a SF Operator locking himself into an off-road vehicle with the Head and Neck Restraining System (HANS “Device”) which would probably just endanger his life in other ways.
I feel that this is a kitschy ploy at something that will probably be seen in the future. Things that wouldn’t surprise me: “Green Beret” Stock Car. I would, however, die a little on the inside to hear about it.
It’s all good. There are reasons it’s being done besides being “gimmicky”. GMVs aren’t the only thing rolling and there’s a lot of technology to be had. Relating it to only GMVs and “Green Beret racing” is a little shortsighted.