NASCAR may still require steel wheels on its racecars, and carburetors meter gas to the engines. But this most American form of racing has taken a distinctively tech turn of late. At every race, there's a million-dollar AMD rolling server farm and data-collection trailer just off pit road; NASCAR updates the position and speed of every one of its 43 stock cars at 2- to 4-second intervals during races using induction loops under the pavement; and diehard fans can plug in a video/communications receiver to watch every corner of the track from the stands.

To keep costs in check, NASCAR restricts teams from gathering telemetry data during races, except for receiving some of the data NASCAR gathers and then feeds back to the media and fans. Where a Formula One team has a satellite link back to its R&D facility in Europe to help determine the optimal lap for refueling and tire changes, a NASCAR crew chief has to use dead reckoning.

Still, NASCAR has been on a technology roll ever since in-car cameras appeared in the 1980s. The death of Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500 in 2001 accelerated the development of a safety research center and wind tunnel that culminates in the 2008 Car of Tomorrow racecar and increases the odds of surviving the worst of wrecks. At a NASCAR race this year, I saw only part of the course firsthand, but with TrackVision, the handheld receiver, I was able to watch nearly every corner and to listen in on car-to-pit communications. Those who don't want to spend $50 a race for TrackVision can view mega-TVs in front of each block of stands.

Formula One delivers more high tech, but there's more passing and paint-swapping in a single NASCAR race than in an entire F1 season (which F1 is working on). Both sports have, with apologies to "Talladega Nights," "smokin' hot wives." F1 has a Toyota team, but next year NASCAR will, too. Toyota builds American sedans; ergo, it's NASCAR-eligible. The yellow flag that bunches NASCAR's 42 cars up after an accident isn't high-tech, but it's high-value. Sometimes mid-tech is good enough.

To read about our conversation with racecar driver Daniel Herrington, click here.