NASCAR finally dumps antiquated analog gages

Digital Dash on one of the Ganassi Sabates cars

NASCAR has dumped the analog gauge and moved to a digital dash for all Sprint Cup cars in 2016.

The digital dash resembles ones found in street cars and should provide drivers with more accurate data.

"I want to go really far with that because it has a real opportunity for us to connect our fans with," technology, NASCAR chairman Brian France said.

The dash features 16 customizable screens and can monitor 24 elements, including lap time, engine diagnostics, and track bar status. Oil, water and fuel pressure can also be monitored in numeral, bar graph or gauge form.

There are plans to add flag status, restart order and penalties to the dash, starting in 2017.

"The car manufacturers, in no uncertain terms for them is the digital dash going to be the future," France said. "You're going to see all kinds of things you already can, depending on which car or make, that are available, from wi-fi to the internet streaming, all that stuff, is already there. They want us to have their cars, their technology resemble things that are going on on the track. So we'll have some opportunities there, and we're going to try and take advantage of them." Ap.org