IR to keep eyes on every NASCAR race

Apr 18, 2006 12:28 PM

           

Ingersoll-Rand will have a major behind-the-scenes presence at NASCAR races, as the security giant will be providing security everywhere -- from the pits to the parking lots.
It's all part of a four-year deal IR Security recently signed with the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, the sanctioning body for the rapidly growing motor sport.
The challenge of providing security at more than 1,500 events at more than 100 tracks in the United States, Canada and Mexico, is daunting. "It's a huge responsibility," Tim Christine, a former Secret Service officer who is NASCAR's director of security, tells The Bergen County (N.J.) Record. "Our events are among the most attended anywhere, with 17 of the 20 most attended sports venues anywhere.
"On any given weekend, we might have 150,000 spectators in the grandstand," Christine adds.
With crowds of that size, as well as hundreds of support and service personnel around the track, it is critical to have plans in place to keep everyone safe and secure and to be prepared for any contingencies, Christine says.
That includes solid perimeters, controlling access to different areas around the track and screening 100 percent of all items coming into the grandstand.
"It presents a unique challenge," says David Sylvester, president of I-R Security in the Americas. "NASCAR has very large venues with multiple pieces."
Security starts with the basic hardware -- steel doors and frames -- and includes CCTV for the entire facility, from the outer parking lots to the sometimes chaotic infield; electronic access and biometric systems; and time-and-attendance monitoring of employees.
In addition, IR is now responsible, in conjunction with security managers at individual airports, for security of NASCAR's fleet of corporate jets based in Florida, North Carolina and California.
In developing programs, IR and NASCAR work with the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service, as well as local, state and federal authorities.

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