Kratos Platoons Power Champion Tire Logistics At NASCAR Brickyard 400
Two tractor-trailers, outfitted with premium Goodyear commercial truck tires, have traveled along the I-70 corridor between Ohio and Indiana in an automated platoon configuration, with one human-driven lead truck paired to an automated follower. Equipped with advanced Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications, onboard sensors, and automated control systems, the automated follower truck maintains coordinated speed, braking, and steering with the lead truck. Originally developed for defense applications, Kratos' dual-use technologies demonstrate a unique approach to fleet logistics using automation to address challenges facing commercial logistics, agriculture, energy, and mining sectors vital to national security.
'Deploying automation in a fast-moving, time-critical logistics environment like NASCAR gave us a unique opportunity to show how seamlessly Kratos' technology fits into real-world operations,' said Maynard Factor, VP of Business Development at Kratos. 'Even outside of core industries, we demonstrated that commercial fleets can adopt Kratos' autonomous systems without overhauling their workflows or disrupting day-to-day business, proving how practical and scalable this technology is.'
Champion Tire & Wheel, a longtime innovator in motorsports logistics, became the first to use automated platooning to deliver equipment to a global racing event. Operating within the NASCAR supply chain, the company says this deployment underscores how automation can strengthen business continuity and drive efficiency across commercial logistics environments.
Champion's innovative tracking systems, inspection technology, and logistics operations help ensure teams receive race-ready equipment wherever the schedule takes them.
'This technology provides us options to better manage spikes in the schedule where distance and timing are a challenge,' said Kevin Mahl, President & CEO of Champion Tire & Wheel. 'By pairing a human-driven lead truck with an autonomous follower, we can keep the fleet moving efficiently to the next race venue. With Kratos autonomous systems as a tool to use when needed, we're able to move more equipment, more efficiently, and give ourselves more flexibility in our logistics planning.'
That's not all. Goodyear joined the collaboration to demonstrate how advanced tire and vehicle systems can enable next-generation logistics. Goodyear's long-standing presence at the Brickyard 400—dating back to its origin in 1994— has focused on precision and performance across every terrain.
'Goodyear has long stood at the intersection of driving performance and vehicle intelligence—from the racetrack to autonomous innovation,' said Rich Cottrell, Senior Director, Commercial Marketing, Goodyear. 'This deployment connects Goodyear's racing legacy with our premium commercial tire technology and fleet solutions—helping advance performance and uptime for modern logistics. We're proud to support this milestone with Kratos and Champion Tire & Wheel.'
The Brickyard 400 deployment also builds on the I-70 Truck Automation Corridor (TAC) program, an active multi-state effort to accelerate the safe integration of automated trucking along key Midwest freight corridors. Led by DriveOhio (Ohio Department of Transportation), the Indiana Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other stakeholders, the I-70 TAC program uses Kratos' auto-platooning systems deployed with EASE Logistics to support freight movements along I-70 between Columbus, OH, and Indianapolis, IN with safety riders in each vehicle.
The Kratos dual-use technology strategy of leveraging defense-developed technology for commercial applications maximizes the value of internal research and development investments across sectors. By demonstrating this technology in motorsports logistics, Kratos aims to drive innovation that delivers immediate, real-world impact. As the company puts it, 'Kratos makes true internally funded research, development, capital and other investments, to rapidly develop, produce and field solutions that address our customers' mission critical needs and requirements.'
Kratos' primary business areas include virtualized ground systems for satellites and space vehicles including software for command & control and telemetry, tracking and control, jet powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles and rocket systems, propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, space craft and launch systems, and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, satellite, counter UAS, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual & augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.
Platooning Elsewhere
In addition to on-highway platooning, Kratos has fielded truck platooning to support agricultural freight operations on two-lane farm roads in North Dakota. This use case is motivated by a driver shortage. The ability to use only one driver to move two trucks full of harvested goods is highly compelling to the growers.
According to the Bishop Consulting 2024 Automated Driving Industry Trends Report – Trucks, truck platooning has been deployed in China by KargoBot and Pony.ai. Hexagon is running platooned trucks to haul iron ore for Mineral Resources in Australia.
As long as the truck driver shortage continues (and probably gets worse), any and every technology to support the movement of freight with fewer drivers is a win for the supply industry as a whole.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
NASCAR driver hospitalized in scary dirt track crash: ‘Tremendous amount of pain'
A NASCAR driver was involved in a terrifying dirt track accident in Quebec, Canada, on Monday night and sustained injuries when the dirt-modified car he was driving struck a barrier and flew into the air. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Stewart Friesen was taking part in the first night of a Super DIRTcar Series event at Autodrome Drummond when the accident occurred, which left him with an unstable open-book pelvic fracture and a fractured right leg, according to a statement by the driver's wife, Jessica Friesen. Both injuries will require surgery, and Friesen was transferred to a larger hospital on Tuesday morning for the procedures. 3 Stewart Friesen was in a scary crash. Last Lap Insider/X CT scans cleared Friesen of any head, neck or spine injuries, though 'he is still in a tremendous amount of pain,' according to the statement. The race was on lap 17 when Friesen's car started to go over the berm on the back straightaway and collided with the outside retaining wall, with the impact sending the car flipping into the air and erupting into flames as it rolled back onto the track. 3 Friesen's car hit the barrier and went flying Last Lap Insider/X The cockpit came to a rest in the middle of the track as pieces of the car lay around it. The racing series reported on social media that Friesen was alert and communicating with race officials and EMT on site before he was able to be extracted from the car. He was then taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. The racing circuit told CNY Central that race officials and first responders were given the same medical emergency training as NASCAR and IndyCar safety staffers go through. 'Thank you to the manufacturers who have made dirt modifieds as safe as possible, and to the track crew for their patience and hard work getting Stew out of the car,' Jessica said in Tuesday's statement. 3 Stewart Friesen, driver of the Halmar International Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 Powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics at Michigan International Speedway on June 7, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan. Getty Images Friesen drives for Halmar-Friesen Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series and is sitting in seventh in the playoff picture thanks to a dramatic win at Michigan International Speedway in June. The 42-year-old had just come off a Super DIRTCar win over the weekend at Weedsport Speedway in upstate New York.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
NASCAR suspends Austin Hill, strips playoff points for intentional wreck
NASCAR suspended Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill one race and stripped him of all his playoff points Tuesday after he deliberately wrecked another driver during last Saturday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Officials determined that Hill, who drives for Richard Childress Racing in NASCAR's second-tier series, intentionally right-hooked Joe Gibbs Racing's Aric Almirola in the closing laps, sending him hard into the outside wall. Hill was docked five laps at the time for reckless driving, but NASCAR later said the incident warranted further review and possible additional penalties. The yellow flag is out at @IMS following this incident involving multiple cars.@Aric_Almirola exited the No. 19 under his own power. — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 26, 2025 Hill, a championship favorite whose three wins tie him for second most this season, will miss Saturday's race at Iowa Speedway. Because Hill was suspended, he will lose the 21 regular-season playoff points he has already accumulated, plus any additional playoff points he earns in the remaining four regular-season races he competes in. Advertisement RCR will not appeal the penalty. Austin Dillon, team owner Richard Childress' grandson, will replace Hill at Iowa. Hill retaliated against Almirola after Almirola made contact with Hill's rear bumper, causing the RCR driver to slide up the track. Hill then turned left, striking Almirola's right-rear corner, which sent Almirola crashing head-on into the outside wall. Almirola was uninjured but described the wreck as 'one of the hardest hits I've taken in my NASCAR career' and said he believed Hill intentionally hit him. 'I didn't feel what he did was necessary,' Almirola said. 'I felt like he could have easily fell back in line. He was damaged anyway. We were losing time to the leaders. It wasn't like we were on pace with them. He was holding me up clearly. 'It's just unfortunate. He obviously lost his mind right there. That was really bad judgment in my opinion.' Childress vehemently defended his driver after the race, saying Hill did not deserve a suspension. He pointed to an incident earlier this season in which Austin Cindric was penalized — but not suspended — for right-hooking Ty Dillon during a Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas. Ty Dillon is also Childress' grandson. 'Hell, no. They didn't do a damn thing to (Cindric) when he wrecked Ty (Dillon) and admitted to it — drove him in the right rear and wrecked him at COTA,' Childress said. 'It's who you are. We're a blue-collar team; (NASCAR) gives us trouble all the time.' NASCAR typically penalizes drivers for the dangerous act of intentionally hitting a competitor in the right-rear and causing a crash, though suspensions are not always issued and depend on the circumstances. Bubba Wallace in 2022 and Chase Elliott in 2023 are two recent examples of drivers who were suspended for right-hooking another competitor. In the cases of Wallace, Elliott and, now Hill, the incidents all occurred on high-speed ovals. The Cindric-Dillon incident, by contrast, took place on a road course at a lower speed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Richard Childress Fumes and Calls Out NASCAR for Penalty Inconsistencies
Richard Childress Fumes and Calls Out NASCAR for Penalty Inconsistencies originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Austin Hill was running fourth in Saturday's Xfinity Series race with 10 laps to go at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and had Aric Almirola right on his rear bumper going into Turn 3. Coming out of Turn 4, the No. 21 Xfinity Series car got sideways before the Richard Childress Racing driver skillfully saved it and had the Chevrolet going straight. However, a split second later, Hill got into the right rear of the No. 19 car, which sent it for an immediate right turn and hard hit into the outside wall. The CW broadcast analysts Jamie McMurray and Parker Kligerman agreed it was intentional. NASCAR thought so too and penalized the RCR pilot five laps for reckless driving. Hill vehemently disagreed and voiced his displeasure with the decision "They can go [expletive] themselves,' the angry driver said on the team radio. '[Expletive] NASCAR. That is [expletive] [expletive]." A short time later, the 79-year-old team owner chimed in with his thoughts. ' It would be better off that I don't say what I think because I would even be in bigger trouble,' Childress said. 'But they didn't do nothing to the No. 2 car when they wrecked Ty in the right rear and admitted it. 50 points. What's the deal?' Childress was referring to an incident earlier in the year during the Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas when Austin Cindric retaliated by hooking Childress' grandson Ty Dillon in the right rear after being moved up the track by the No. 10 car. NASCAR docked Cindric 50 points and fined him $50,000 several days later. Interestingly, it's the second time in a week the NASCAR Hall of Famer has been in the news for his radio remarks. Last Sunday and just moments after the checkered flag waved for the Cup race at Dover, Childress didn't hold back the concerns he had with his organization's performance. 'Gotta get some race cars,' he said on the No. 8 team radio. "We are in trouble. Period.' Hill found himself in trouble on Saturday at Indy. The question is whether or not NASCAR's penalty at the track was the final thing the sanctioning body has to say on the story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
