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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The trick was to make the fans happy, keep the drivers safe, level the playing field, and implement state-of-the-art technology. Did Nascar do it? Only time will tell.

This year, Nascar, a sport that surpasses every sport but the NFL in popularity among Americans, went for the gold, rolling out an all-new generation of its race cars that ditched the common look among manufacturers that fans hated in the previous generation and cut weight. The result? Faster speeds and track records falling by the wayside week after week.

Looking to understand how technology comes into play in a Nascar race, CNET's Daniel Terdiman traveled to the most hallowed track of all -- the Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- to take in the Brickyard 400 and see just how the sport's latest innovations impact a race where the fastest drivers can top out their speed at more than 187.5 miles an hour.
One recent innovation is this laser scanning system that is used to take precise measurements of each car that will compete in a Nascar event in order to ensure that race teams are adhering to strict regulations about how the vehicles are engineered for a race.