IMSA Is Building the Future of Motorsports Technology. CRS Is Building the Talent to Power It.
RACER | September 3, 2026
Motorsports has always been a proving ground for innovation.
For decades, the pressure, precision and unpredictability of racing have pushed manufacturers and technology companies to develop better, faster and more reliable technologies. Today, that evolution is accelerating through data, artificial intelligence, simulation, advanced computing and increasingly sophisticated vehicle systems.
A recent feature from RACER takes an in-depth look at how IMSA is turning that long-standing tradition of innovation into something much bigger through IMSA Labs.
And for the Collegiate Racing Series, the most important part of the story isn’t just the technology.
It’s the people who will build what comes next.
A New Era of Motorsports Innovation
IMSA Labs is designed to create an environment where manufacturers, technology companies, startups, researchers and motorsports professionals can develop and test new solutions in the demanding environment of professional racing.
That includes technologies involving cloud computing, data analysis, artificial intelligence, hardware, networks, simulation and digital twins. Oracle has already become a founding partner, with its Innovation Studio providing startups with an opportunity to develop solutions using cloud and AI technologies alongside real-world racing operations, telemetry and data.
The significance is bigger than making race cars faster.
The goal is to use motorsports as a real-world laboratory where technologies can be developed, tested and refined under conditions that demand speed, reliability and constant decision-making. The resulting innovations could ultimately have applications well beyond racing, including transportation, manufacturing, logistics, energy and telecommunications.
That changes what a career in motorsports can look like.
The Next Generation Needs a Place in That Ecosystem
As IMSA President John Doonan describes it, the long-term vision for IMSA Labs extends into education.
The goal is to eventually bring universities and students into the same ecosystem, using motorsports as a teaching and research environment. That could mean opportunities for students across a wide range of disciplines, from engineering and data analysis to technology, health and performance, business and beyond.
That vision aligns directly with why CRS exists.
The Collegiate Racing Series is creating opportunities for students to compete nationally while gaining practical experience in the highly demanding environment of motorsports.
Through collegiate racing, students aren’t simply learning about motorsports.
They’re participating in it.
And through the partnership between IMSA and CRS to establish the National Advisory Board for Motorsports Education (NABME), that connection between higher education and the professional motorsports industry is becoming even stronger.
NABME is designed to help connect universities with the evolving needs of the motorsports industry while creating opportunities for internships, experiential learning, curriculum alignment and workforce development.
From the Racetrack to the Classroom and Back Again
This is where the vision for IMSA Labs and the mission of CRS intersect.
IMSA is building an ecosystem where innovation can be developed and tested.
CRS is helping build an ecosystem where the next generation of talent can gain the experience to contribute to it.
One develops the technology. The other helps develop the people.
And together, those pieces have the potential to create something motorsports has never had at this scale: a connected pathway linking higher education, collegiate competition, professional racing, technology and career opportunities.
That pathway isn’t limited to future professional drivers.
The motorsports industry needs engineers. Data scientists. Software developers. Technicians. Designers. Researchers. Marketing professionals. Business leaders. Sports medicine and performance specialists. Entrepreneurs. And countless other professionals who will help shape the next generation of the sport.
The students competing in collegiate motorsports today could become the people solving the industry’s biggest challenges tomorrow.
This Is Bigger Than Racing
The most exciting part of the RACER story is where IMSA Labs ultimately wants to go.
Doonan describes a future in which universities could have dedicated motorsports programs, data analysis laboratories and driver-in-the-loop simulators, creating environments where students can develop and test technologies for both racing and road-car applications.
That’s not simply a vision for better racing.
It’s a vision for the future of mobility, technology and education.
And CRS has an important role to play in making that future accessible to the next generation.
College motorsports gives students a place to compete.
NABME gives higher education and the industry a stronger connection.
IMSA Labs creates a vision for where that connection can ultimately lead.
Together, they are helping build the pathway from the classroom to the racetrack, and from the racetrack into the future of motorsports.
The future isn’t waiting for today’s college students to graduate.
It’s being built around them right now.
Read the Full RACER Feature
RACER’s Stephen Kilbey takes an in-depth look at IMSA Labs, its growing technology ecosystem and IMSA’s vision for bringing the motorsports industry, technology companies, universities and the next generation of talent together.