At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the BMW Group will showcase the future of driving pleasure and the potential of digital connectivity in a variety of different ways.
From January 8 to 11, visitors to the BMW Pavilion in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Silver Lot will have their first chance to take a virtual drive in the BMW Vision iNEXT, accompanied by the BMW Personal Assistant.
The BMW Vision iNEXT vehicle will be displayed alongside a sophisticated mixed-reality installation that enables visitors to virtually experience the BMW Vision iNEXT. With virtual reality goggles and a specially-designed spatial concept, visitors are able to immerse themselves in this virtual world – from driving to autonomous riding and more.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. may be in the booth now, but he can't seem to stay away from a little on-track action.
Next up, the fan favorite will find himself driving the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado pace truck to lead the field to green for the 61st running of Daytona 500 in February 2019. This is the first time the Daytona 500 will be paced by a pickup truck.
“I’ve had a lot of fun and a lot of success at Daytona over the years, and now I can’t wait to get out on that track in a Silverado,” said Earnhardt Jr. “Away from the track I’ve driven Chevy trucks all my life, and I’m excited to have this unique experience of pacing the Daytona 500 with the Silverado.”
Earnhardt won two Daytona 500s and two July races at Daytona in his career. He has 13 top-5 finishes and 19 top-10s in 36 Cup Series career starts at Daytona.
“Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the perfect choice to pace the race because of his enthusiasm for the sport, his long history with Chevrolet and his love of trucks,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “It’ll be exciting to have Dale lead the field to green in the strongest, most advanced Silverado ever.”
The Silverado pace truck is powered by a production 6.2L V-8 engine paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission. It delivers 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. Chevrolet has paced the Daytona 500 12 times, seven with Camaro and five with Corvette.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, I’m thankful for a lot this year.
Some of those things are personal, others are professional and some involve the sport I’ve loved, followed and written about for more than half my life.
With the season wrapped up and Joey Logano having claimed his first title after a thrilling win at Homestead, here are some of the things I’m thankful for in the NASCAR world.
An exciting end to the season
I’ll start out by saying that anyone unhappy with the current playoff system, and still clinging to the old full-season points battle that was often decided before the final race was even run, is either fooling themselves or just plain unable to be happy with anything NASCAR does.
The playoffs were especially successful this year, full of exciting races and ending up with the four most deserving drivers battling for the title. We talked about the Big 3 all year, and there they were at Homestead. Joey Logano proved to be the best of the rest, and in a testament to the true fairness of the system, the guy who many fans said didn’t deserve to be there took home the crown.
In sports, going the extra mile to win should be applauded.
That could apply to an MLB outfielder stretching out for an unbelievable catch, an NFL runner shedding that one final block to reach the end zone, and many other scenarios.
One of those other scenarios, in the world of NASCAR, is executing the perfect bump-and-run to get a win at Martinsville and punch your ticket to Homestead, like Joey Logano did Sunday.
It was a brilliant move, executed by a driver who has never shied away from doing what it takes to win the race, and it was a move everyone should have anticipated, given what was on the line. Now, instead of heading into the next two races just above the cut line, Joey Logano is in the Final Four. He’s racing for a title at Homestead and can breathe easy the next two weeks (though I’m sure he’ll try to win those races too, being the competitor he is).
Hexagon’s Positioning Intelligence division (Hexagon PI) has welcomed AutonomouStuff following the completion of the acquisition as announced by Hexagon AB.
AutonomouStuff being part of Hexagon PI will boost collaboration between the organizations to provide superior solutions for autonomous vehicle development.
“Combined with Hexagon PI’s leadership in high accuracy, functionally-safe and high-integrity positioning technology, the addition of AutonomouStuff and their offerings is helping our customers to accelerate the development of more comprehensive Autonomous X solutions,” said Michael Ritter, President and CEO of Hexagon PI. “Our expanded capabilities will allow Hexagon PI to meet the industry’s ever growing demand for more robust autonomy solutions.”
Hexagon PI has been an important technology provider to AutonomouStuff for several years, and the two organizations have worked closely together to serve common customers and collaborate on important industry events.
As the division grows, AutonomouStuff will continue to function as an independent brand within Hexagon PI. Founded in 2010, U.S.-based AutonomouStuff is pioneering solutions and platforms for autonomous vehicle development, robotics and data intelligence innovation.
Its cutting-edge platforms, which utilize an expansive portfolio of technologies, are deployed in pilot programs worldwide – representing thousands of customers in the automotive and technology sectors across the globe.
“The combined entities now provide the fuel and support for exponential growth while affording us the ability to make continued advances in the mobility space,” said Bobby Hambrick, founder & CEO, AutonomouStuff. “I’m very excited for our shared future."
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