Leading Lights to enhance experience for Kenyon Midget fans
By Ken de la Bastide
Imagine you're a fan at a favorite race track and that action is fast and furious. Who's leading? Who's running second or third? Currently the fan has to look away from the action and look at the scoreboard to determine the running order.
Coming aboard as a sponsor of the Kenyon Midget Series is Leading Lights and founder Turner Woodard. The concept is to place a light on the roll cage of the Kenyon Midget that will automatically display the top three drivers in a race.
Woodard said it used to be drivers got information about competitors by a crew member holding a chalk board. “It was that way when I raced at Mid-Ohio 30 years ago and it always seemed so crude,” he said.
Woodard said there had to be a way to help the fan. He purchased the patent and realized it was a simple idea in a complex sport.
The Kenyon Midget cars will be outfitted with roll cage lights that will show blue for the leader, red for second and white for third. The lights can also all turn yellow for a caution period. The light system is tied in with the scoring system so the fans will always know who the front runners are.
Woodard said IndyCar used side lights that the fans liked but the cars went past so fast it was hard to read.
“I was looking all around,” he said of finding a series to showcase the system. “It had to be the right person to make it happen.” Woodard said the light system will also aid the drivers in knowing who they're trying to catch during a race. He said it will aid the spotters and let slower traffic know when the leaders are approaching.
The system would prove to be significant at a dirt track where the cars tend to kick up a lot of dust making the numbers hard to read.
“We believe there are several benefits to the system,” Woodard said. “I thought with Brad (Hayes) background we could make the system right and help develop it.”
Woodard believes the Leading Light system could be used by NASCAR, IndyCar and other traveling series in the future.
“It's about enhancing the fans experience,” he said.