Sponsors make it possible for us to watch IndyCar Series races every year. They’re absolutely essential for the teams — without sponsors, no races. One major drawback open-wheel cars have compared to, for example, NASCAR stock cars is that they offer far less surface area for sponsorships. In 2001 one of the most unusual locations ever for a sponsor logo was introduced: inside the wheels themselves!

During practice for the Lehigh Valley Grand Prix at Nazareth Speedway, bystanders were puzzled when the Newman/Haas Racing cars took to the track. It looked as if drivers Christiano da Matta and Christian Fittipaldi were running with glowing red brake discs the entire time! But upon closer inspection, fans could see the sponsor names Toyota, Kmart and Texaco inside the wheels.

It turned out to be a new technology called WheelFX. Developed by the British company Adflash, the system used an LED panel that displayed sponsor graphics on the rotating wheels. On the Newman/Haas cars it was used in a static form, but it was even capable of showing animations.

“I think WheelFX will spark a revolution in motorsports sponsorship, giving our partners a brand-new way to stand out,” co-team owner Carl Haas said at the time.

Although it wasn’t used during the race at Nazareth Speedway, Da Matta and Fittipaldi did compete in later races with this striking new form of sponsorship.

After it became clear that WheelFX could indeed be used in actual races, several Formula 1 teams also expressed interest in the technology. In the end, however, this unique method of sponsorship was never fully adopted for unknown reasons and it quietly disappeared from the wheels of Newman/Haas Racing.

Source: Crash.net / CART.com through the Internet Archive, Electronics Weekly