Advanced Racing Technologies, Inc., has entered the world of Championship Auto Racing Teams and the PPG CART World Championship. ART’s state-of-the art design capabilities recently attracted the attention of IndyCar technical coordinator Dick Perry who contracted ART to design and build a laser system capable of providing highly accurate chassis measurements. New rules for 1996 mandate that a car’s chassis reference plane be established in order to accurately judge whether or not it is within specification. Since ART’s laser technology makes it possible to accurately measure variables to within a thousandth of an inch, IndyCar recognized that a technical partnership with ART made sense in order to sustain a consistently level playing field.
ART dedicated three months of effort to the design and construction of the prototype IndyCar laser system which underwent acceptance testing during the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami – Presented by Toyota on March 3, 1996. With the Miami race complete, the ART laser system was judged a success. Subsequently, a final production unit was fabricated and presented for use during Brazil’s Rio 400. The production unit incorporated client-suggested refinements including; optimizations designed to speed setup time and alternate chassis configurations on-demand.