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Case Study · Race-Weekend Activation

How NASCAR put 130+ fans in the driver’s seat the day before the green flag.

NASCAR · Elite Finish, San Diego · June 20, 2026 · 2 full-motion simulators · NASCAR San Diego Street Race Weekend

A fan at the wheel of a Trackside full-motion simulator at the NASCAR San Diego fan activation

From the activation floor

That’s a fresh fan strapped in roughly every 2.5 minutes — with a line from open to close and crowds three-deep around every battle for the top of the leaderboard.

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Fans in the driver’s seat

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Hours of racing — seats never empty

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Full-motion simulators

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Head-to-head sessions

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Day — in before doors, out after close

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Technicians ran the whole show

The Setup We Ran

2 full-motion simulators — networked head-to-head Continuous 5-minute race sessions Live leaderboard — fastest lap, all day Custom livery on the rigs & the virtual track Wind simulation + G-force belt tensioners Two-person crew — load-in to teardown

What this means for your event

  1. 01

    Fans want the wheel, not just the show

    The day before a real Cup Series race, 130+ fans lined up to drive one. Spectators became drivers all day — the seats never sat empty in 5.5 hours.

  2. 02

    The leaderboard does the crowd work

    Every 5-minute session became a battle for the fastest lap. Fans who finished stayed to defend their times, and the crowd stacked three-deep to watch and film.

  3. 03

    One day, zero lift

    Two technicians handled load-in before doors, coached fans in and out of the seat all day, and tore down after close. The client’s team simply showed up.

From the Floor

Race weekend, one day early.

In June 2026, NASCAR brought the Cup Series to Southern California for the inaugural San Diego street race at Naval Base Coronado. The day before the green flag, NASCAR wanted fans to do more than watch — so we put them behind the wheel. Every frame below is from the floor at Elite Finish, San Diego.

Two fans racing head-to-head on networked full-motion simulators at the NASCAR San Diego activation
A NASCAR fan at the wheel of a full-motion racing simulator
Spectators crowding the action at the NASCAR San Diego fan activation
A harnessed driver mid-session on a Trackside full-motion simulator
Fans racing side by side with a NASCAR race car on the floor behind them

130+ fans didn’t just watch race weekend. They drove it.

Planning a race-weekend or fan activation?

Tell us your event and your crowd goals — we’ll come back with an activation plan and the numbers to expect.

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