Drone racing comes to Dover's Monster Mile

While the sounds of engines revving for NASCAR triple-header race weekend will be heard loud and clear on Dover's Monster Mile, another "buzz" will be heard nearby.

The International Drone Racing Association will hold its first event here Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Dover.

The race will feature 16 professional teams from around the world, competing to earn points toward the world championship. According to Justin Haggerty, founder and chief executive officer of IDRA, the three-year agreement provides an opportunity to showcase the growing sport of drone racing in Dover during the speedway's spring racing weekend.

"I've been looking for a partnership in motorsports for one of our international races, and we found the right partner," said Haggerty on Monday as he was helping to put a net over the FanZone course to meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations. "Dover sees what we are doing, so they bought into it. We want to build a series, not just one-off big races. We want to call Dover home for a bit."

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Haggerty said the partnership with Dover International Speedway allows IDRA – which has been in existence and growing for two years now – to bring the sport to the people on a large scale. He believes the similarities between motorsports and drone racing will attract a new audience.

"We're trying to make this a spectator sport," he said. "I've been around motorsports for a long time, and there are a lot of connections. Building a drone is no different than building your own car and then getting the most out of it. It's the same mentality."

The 2017 IDRA Drone Racing Series is made up of six professional international events. The season begins in the United States and concludes with the IDRA finals in Amsterdam. Contestants compete for the IDRA Drone Racing Series World Championship on the basis of total points earned at IDRA international events, including the IDRA finals.

UAS/Drone racing is a worldwide sport that uses unmanned aircraft systems and virtual reality technology to allow pilots to compete on the international stage, Haggerty said.

"Team events like this require strategy," said Haggerty, who said each pilot will fly three laps around the enclosed course before making a pit stop for adjustments to their drones, then fly three more laps. "There are four qualifying rounds, then three rounds of elimination. The winner is based off of points earned."

There are roughly 100 drone competitions in the United States annually and 200 worldwide competitions, highlighted by the IDRA’s World Drone Prix in Dubai in 2016 that awarded its first $1 million prize package to a 15-year-old from the United Kingdom.

Dover International Speedway officials see the partnership as an opportunity to reach a younger fan base. They also are hoping to create new race fans by bringing drone racing to Dover.

"This is a good fit for us," said Mark Rossi, vice president of sales for the speedway. "We are always trying to think of ways of bringing new events to the property and this is one echo boomers will appreciate."

Shawn O'Sullivan, head of MultiGP Drone Racing press relations, which is separate from IDRA, said that drone racing is the fastest growing sport in the world that almost nobody has heard of. It is the perfect union of technology and the outdoors, he said.

"Our professional drone racing league, MultiGP, completed over 3,500 race events in 2016, and we are currently averaging more than 150 race events every weekend," he said. "MultiGP has over 17,000 registered members worldwide, and we also have more than 500 active race chapters worldwide that are holding events every weekend."

In December, crews finished taking out grandstand seating to give the speedway a cozier feel and to create an urgency to buy tickets. 

“The landscape of not just our industry has changed as fans like a more intimate feel in all major sports facilities,” said Dover International Speedway President Michael Tatoian in December. “New stadiums are being built with this in mind."

Tatoian said the decision to remove seating was made two to three years ago to downsize the facility.

“Our capacity will remain at 85,000," he said. "This is the right size for our current attendance.”

At least 12 tracks have decreased seating in the last three years, with track owners citing the need to create urgency for fans to buy tickets.

Tatoian said that the seating removal creates a better atmosphere for the fans and leaves open the possibility to create another unique space.

Taking notice

Rossi said the drone racing event has also created a buzz among the drivers and crews.

"Some of the drivers want to check it out," he said. "That will draw more attention to the event. Hopefully, people find it exciting and fun and want to bring the kids out for a complete day of racing and something new." 

Rossi said the partnership came out of necessity as IDRA was looking for a venue big enough and that would help promote the up-and-coming sport. 

Dover International Speedway's FanZone fits that bill, providing plenty of room for the 300-foot-by-150-foot (half-acre) fly zone. The 8-acre FanZone also will provide plenty of room for thousands of spectators to experience drone racing.

For Haggerty, that was paramount.

"It's a perfect venue," he said. "This is far more valuable than some of the other venues where we've held events. We will get to showcase this to tens of thousands of people who will walk through the FanZone during the weekend." 

Haggerty also looks forward to IDRA growing a larger community of "tinkerers, dreamers and innovators" this weekend by bringing the sport and drone racing experience to spectators’ computers, mobile devices and VR goggles.

"This is a great sport for younger fans," he said. "Social media has been a great way of reaching them, but we look at the Dover experience as another way to help build this community." 

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.

Weekend schedule

FRIDAY

• 9 a.m. to 3:35 p.m.: Practice

•4-4:55 p.m.: Qualifying

SATURDAY

• 9-11:50 a.m.: Qualifying

• 1:10-4 p.m.: Eliminations

SUNDAY

• 8:30-9:20 a.m.: Eliminations

• 9:30-11:20 a.m.: Semifinals

• 11:55 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Finals