Underdog NASCAR O'Reilly Team Leaning On AI Company To Bridge Gap

On Thursday, SS-GreenLight Racing announced a newly formed partnership with RaceTek Systems, a motorsports technology company, which builds AI-powered racing intelligence systems for teams. The topic of artificial intelligence has been a hot topic in the world of NASCAR, and is especially polarizing when it comes to motorsports graphic design, but it appears SS-GreenLight Racing is using the partnership to shore up its efficiencies.

"As a smaller team we are always looking to gain an advantage, and we believe what Chase and his team are building will help improve our on track performance," said Tommy Simpson, Director of Operations for SS-GreenLight Racing.

Instead of using AI to replace the knowledgeable mechanics tuning on the team's No. 0 and 07 Chevrolet race cars, the team is instead relying on RaceTek Systems to help them organize their data, build strategic workflows, and customize engineering tools. According to a press release, the RaceTek system will provide the team with communication intelligence systems, and phased AI deployment that starts with one high-value operational problem and expands over time.

It's all about fine-tuning the information and data already inside of SS-GreenLight's race shop.

"RaceTek was built around a simple belief: the teams that can organize information and act on it fastest will have the advantage," said Chase Holden, Founder and CEO of RaceTek Systems. "Our goal is to build technology that fits the reality of racing, supports people in the moment, and helps teams make better decisions under pressure."

While there is much discussion about AI and its place in many facets of industry, Garrett Smithley, a driver for SS-GreenLight Racing, knows the technology is here for the longhaul, and he is happy that his team is one of the first in the garage area to truly believe in and embrace it.

"I'm excited to have RaceTek as a partner this year," Smithley said. "The O'Reilly series is as competitive as it has ever been, so anything we can do to help push our team further up the standings with our limited resources, we're going to do it. AI is here to stay, and we're eager to learn more about it and integrate RaceTek with our talented group of guys."

Heading into Saturday night's Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the first race under the partnership with RaceTek, the SS-GreenLight Racing No. 0 team ranks 26th in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series owner standings, while the No. 07 team ranks 31st.

It'll be interesting to see if the partnership with RaceTek can lead to an upward trend in the owner points for both of the team's cars as the season progresses.