It’s racing season in Florida! The NASCAR season kicks off Sunday with the Daytona 500 and again, there’s a chance of rain.

You may remember last year when they tried to start the race, but the rain kept coming and coming and coming.  Then it was called off for Sunday and rescheduled for Monday night.  And that became an even bigger nightmare when NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya slammed into the jet dryer truck during yellow flag.  That sparked a big fire, issues with the track, long delays, historic tweeting from the cars, etc.  I’m betting that WON’T be happening this year for a number of reasons.

But there is talk of rain this raceday and something new will be on the track Sunday.

During Daytona 500 qualifying, this beast took to the track:

NASCAR has rolled out this new track drying system, called the “Air Titan.”

See those huge semi trucks in the picture? This is all part of the new “Air Titan” system that NASCAR is testing at the track.  I asked lots of questions to NASCAR folks about these while I was at the track.  My first thought….are these now giant so Juan Pablo Montoya will see them on matter what?

But in reality, the goal is to reduce drying times.  Typically it takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to dry the track using the jet dryers.  This new technology could reduce that about 80 percent…to about 30 minutes!!

It’s quite a site to see how it all works.

According to NASCAR, “The system consists of air compressors sitting on trucks on the apron of the track with air running through a hose to small units being towed along the track. Those units, grouped in three and covering about half the width of the track, blow air in narrow, highly pressurized sheets over the track.  Vacuum trucks will absorb water on the apron and jet dryers, going 3-5 mph, will dry any areas with excess water.”

It’s still only in test mode, but we’ll see what happens this race weekend! This could be some great news for race rans, drivers and TV ratings!!