Designed to optimize speed on ice, Olympic luges are ultimately not so different from what is also demanded of a race car, in NASCAR as elsewhere. It is this achievement that prompted the American Luge Federation to develop a partnership with NASCAR, in fact since January 28, a few days before the opening ceremony of Milan-Cortina 2026. While the first aspect of the partnership is primarily marketing-oriented, with American athletes wearing the NASCAR logo during the Luge World Cup events (advertising is prohibited at the Olympic Games), the objective is to build a genuine technical partnership in preparation for the next Olympics.
“We are both trying to develop or achieve speed, and that implies that an athlete, whether a race car driver or a luge athlete on a luge, needs to have the best possible technology in terms of aerodynamics and speed.”explains Scott Riewald, CEO of the U.S. Luge Federation. “It’s not just about wind resistance, but also how the car or sled interacts with the ice, the materials, the setup methods, the material properties to improve efficiency and limit vibrations, etc. It’s astonishing how many similarities these two disciplines have.”
NASCAR’s Vice President of Vehicle Performance, Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, met with American athletes at the World Cup event in Park City, Utah, last December. It quickly became clear that the stock car championship could benefit lugers from the United States, notably through laser scanning of their equipment, similar to NASCAR’s pre-race inspections. Several athletes also underwent wind tunnel testing.
“Simply presenting these processes to them is very interesting.”Jacuzzi explains. “They have a tremendous amount of tribal knowledge about how to build these sleds. […] The male doubles are a great example. I asked them, ‘How did you c”Why did you choose this shape for the sled?” And they replied, “Oh, we thought it was cool.” I figured we could probably make some improvements there.
The American Federation therefore wants to modernize its approach to luge in the coming years, with the 2034 Olympic Games in its sights, which will be held, as in 2002, in Utah. NASCAR had already contributed to helping American ice sports, with former driver Geoff Bodine founding his own bobsleigh company, whose sleds were used by the American Olympic teams and won several medals, including the Olympic title in 2010 in Vancouver.
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