Racer - May 2016 SKIP BARBER

2016 VERIZON INDYCAR MOBILE APP

Auto racing is a sport in constant forward motion, both literally and figuratively.

Between every session, every race, every season, teams push to find the next improvement. In isolation, they may only be measured in fractions of a second. But cumulatively, those incremental gains are what keep the top guys, like Team Penske in the Verizon IndyCar Series, out in front.

“At Team Penske, we’re always looking
for ways and methods to maximize our
performance,” says Tim Cindric, president
of Penske Racing. “Whether it’s on or off
the track, we know we have to continue to
improve to stay ahead of the competition.”
The 2015 Verizon INDYCAR Mobile
App was a must-have for fans of the
sport. But, as with Team Penske, the best
can always get better, so the team at
Verizon took on board comments from
app users throughout the 2015 season,
and reviewed take-up rates and
engagement analytics to determine
where to best channel their efforts in
improving the app for 2016. In short,
they listened to you, the fans.

“At the top of the user-feedback list
was making a variety of improvements to
the schedule feature,” says Gopi Sapra,
technology manager, new product
development for Verizon. “This season,
the timetable for all sessions will appear
in the timezone of the mobile device,
versus being oriented to Eastern Time.

So, whether users are at the event, at home, or on the road, the event schedule will appear in their current time zone.

No longer will a fan miss a session
because of a time zone shift.”
Continuing with the schedule
improvements, real time updates will also
include reasons for any delay or
adjustment, ensuring that app users stay
“Inside Indy” with the most current
information available. Finally, the whole
race season calendar can be imported