DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR has announced a multi-year official partnership with Oura Health.
Oura Health is the technology company behind the smart ring that provides users with biometrics and analysis into their sleep and overall health to improve performance and monitor for potential illness.
Through the partnership, Oura becomes an Official Health Technology Partner of NASCAR.
After rigorous vetting by NASCAR, Oura emerged as an accurate and efficient solution to advance the organization’s approach to health and wellness.
As part of the agreement, NASCAR Cup Series drivers and key operational employees across the sanctioning body will be provided with an Oura Ring, which delivers personalized readiness, activity, and sleep insights to provide a holistic picture of a person’s health.
By monitoring changes in an individual’s temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability and respiratory rate, Oura Rings can also potentially detect abnormal fluctuations in asymptomatic carriers as well as previously healthy individuals who are experiencing the onset of a disease.
Oura Rings have been used in TemPredict, a study at University of California, San Francisco, and in a separate study at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute West Virginia University – contributing to a growing body of research on illness detection, symptom profiles, and recovery.
“In today’s challenging environment, Oura Rings provide an edge to keep our athletes and employees safe,” said John Bobo, Vice President, Racing Operations. “Oura’s advanced technology will work glove in hand with NASCAR’s safety protocols. What impressed us was the quality of data that Oura collects, and how high performing athletes and individuals can use that to improve their performance. We also look forward to a long-term partnership and what we can learn from Oura in the years ahead.”
Building on significant advancements in research, and its long-standing Oura Teams product, Oura has developed the Health Risk Management platform to help support NASCAR’s safety protocols. This platform assigns a unique Risk Score to participating athletes and staff members.
The score indicates the likelihood that an individual is experiencing symptoms that correlate with illness.
In the event someone is experiencing symptoms, Oura will send an alert directly to the individual and inform them of the recommended next steps, such as taking a COVID-19 test, seeking further medical attention, or isolating themselves from others.
“We are thrilled to join NASCAR in its effort to provide employees and athletes with the most accurate data and insights to help improve their overall health and assist in detecting the early onset of illness,” said Harpreet Singh Rai, CEO, Oura Health. “Our goal is to help NASCAR and its industry make more informed decisions as they enter the playoffs, with an eye towards the future and the performance benefits our technology can provide.”
To protect the privacy of participants, the HRM platform is designed to be 100-percent voluntary and opt-in only. Drivers and league personnel can ask to be removed from the program at any time. All biometric data collected will remain private.
Additionally, the Oura Ring does not track user location.
Fittings for the initial phase of the Oura Ring deployment in NASCAR are scheduled to begin in the coming week, with the goal of all participating NASCAR Cup Series drivers and employees being outfitted by the first round of the playoffs.