Starting this year, viewers will be able to experience the Daytona 500 from a whole new perspective. Fox has unveiled it’s new Gopher Cam and it’s the latest addition to the existing audio/video equipment that’s used to make raceday a riveting experience for the fans at home.

Gopher Cam is a small, stationary high-definition point-of-view camera buried underneath the asphalt track surface, inches below the yellow line at Daytona International Speedway. There are four Gopher Cams in-place for the 50th Daytona 500, one in each of the track’s four turns. This is the first instance where a camera has been installed below the surface of a superspeedway, and this is the first time that a sub-track surface camera is HD caliber. The cameras have also been paired with high quality microphones, another first, for a realistic audio/video experience.

Hardcore racing fans would watch regardless of HD, surround sound, Gopher Cams, etc. However it’s no coincedence that popularity of NASCAR has grown at the same time that digital media has evolved. When you feel as if you’re flying through turn 4 at over 180 mph then casual racing fans (like myself) have something to do on Sundays when football isn’t in season!