Elliott Equipment builds rig for Turner Sports, NASCAR

Turner Sports, entering its 24th season of NASCAR coverage, recently debuted its mobile production rig. The specially designed broadcast truck serves as the home for TNT's pre-race show during the network's six consecutive NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races.

Developed and produced by Elliott Equipment Company, which produces a line of boom trucks, the project was “a true marriage of a customer with a strong knowledge of what they wanted in terms of final design and Elliott Equipment whose capabilities and eagerness to create a working solution worked so well together,” said Jim Glazer, president and CEO of Elliott Equipment.

Glazer said the end product is the perfect merging of television artistry and world-class engineering.

“The new Turner Sports rig is a state-of-the-art set like no other as it gives us a completely mobile stage with the unique ability to interact with fans, both at the racetrack and at home,” said Lenny Daniels, senior vice president of production and new media, Turner Sports. “We're excited to unveil the new truck and new webcasts, and continue to introduce fresh multiplatform innovations that give fans greater access and connectivity to their favorite sport.”

A fully functioning rig, the truck encompasses a retractable platform stage that can rotate a full 360-degrees and be raised seven feet off the base of the truck into the air. Once the stage is fully extended, the height of the rig reaches 26 feet. Inside, the truck houses a comprehensive production center for NASCAR. COM's new weekend series, NASCAR 24/7 Live, while the exterior will feature changeable TNT and NASCAR.COM logos and graphics designed to serve as a stage and backdrop for both Turner's telecasts and webcasts. The mobile unit resides in the track infield during the six TNT Cup telecasts and outside the track for the 20 NASCAR.COM webcasts.