While most would be focused on the race track, supercars speeding by, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes to enable big events like IndyCar races. Off the beaten path, or at least off the racetrack, and sitting on the prime asphalt, behind or relatively close to it, are a series of trailers, many dedicated to individual racers. You’ve seen them before, especially if you’ve been to a race in person, but let us assure you, you’ve never seen anything quite like this next trailer. Offering approximately 1,000 square feet of space, when fully expanded, the Arrow McLaren NTT Data Strategy Control trailer has enough room for nearly 40 people to work simultaneously inside.
The trailer is an engineering feat, but perhaps what’s more impressive is what’s crammed in there. An estimated two miles of networking cables, or at least 6,000 feet, a total of 69 TVs, screens, and monitors, five different A/C units to cool the inside, and it’s all operating on a 40-kilowatt generator. Calling this thing a “modern marvel” does it no justice. Plus, there’s one more uber-cool fact: Its serial number is 007, like the titular espionage hero James Bond.
Here to talk to us today about the trailer and Arrow McLaren’s data strategy is Max Neyron, the Director of Operations.
Max Neyron: Getting to know the interviewee
Standing tall and somewhat formidable above Gaul in the trailer, Neyron’s striking orange and black official McLaren uniform stands out, much like his career. While Neyron has been with the Arrow team since 2009, he originally joined Sam Schmidt Motorsports as a mechanic for the Indy Lights program — which won a 2010 championship with Jean-Karl Vernay in Neyron’s second season. Today, as a trained diesel mechanic, initially from Canada, Neyron has since signed on as Director of Operations for Arrow McLaren. He’s responsible for logistics and movements to prepare for tests and races for the three-car team.
In his own words, “In many ways, this is all of traveling, everything has a schedule so I create that schedule, I make sure everybody [is] on time, and hotels and flights and all that good stuff.”
He now works from the impressive trailer built and customized for Arrow McLaren — and Gaul was given an exclusive tour.
What is Arrow McLaren NTT Data Strategy Control?
The trailer, as described in the intro, is meant to house data and communication operations for the three-car Arrow McLaren team. It was built, customized, and outfitted specifically for their needs through Neyron’s guidance.
Not one to mince words, Gaul asks, “From my understanding, you had a hand in designing Strategy Control?”
“Yes. It was almost two years in the making. And I had many meetings with these guys that helped us build that trailer. But it’s a 100% customized trailer for us, for our needs. So, a lot of planning, a lot of organization, and a lot of hard work,” Neyron explains.
“Just the accomplishment of it and seeing it here in the paddock. It’s one of a kind, there’s not another one on the paddock.”
He goes on to explain how many people are working out of the trailer at once.
“Right now, I have at least 40 guys and girls in there. We are 24 downstairs and about 10 upstairs,” he says.
Part of the ingenious design is that the trailer “expands out and it expands up.” During travel, it compacts, or rather compresses, for better portability without damaging anything inside, of course. Then, when parked, it can expand to fit the entire crew.
A modern marvel for digital operations
Gaul points out there are more than two miles of cable inside the trailer, and asks how critical that infrastructure is for providing real-time data transmission for engineers on site.
“It’s very critical. Obviously, these guys work a lot with their computers and they need to be able to share information from one to the other,” Neyron says. “I think the plan for the future is that somebody can operate Indy while they’re at the track. Right now we’re still a small enough team that we don’t necessarily have guys at [Indianapolis] that are at the same time with us. But eventually, it will become that, so that trailer was built for that. As of now we just operate out of track relay.”
“[…] Compared to what we had before this is like very luxurious. It’s way more open. You’re able to talk from one guy to the other. You’re not looking at a wall, right?”
It’s hard to imagine that many cables folded, tucked, and hidden inside the walls of the trailer. To that end, it’s hard to imagine the sheer size of it, which is exactly why Gaul asks for the estimated square footage. Neyron says he “never did measure the square footage,” but the 1,000 square feet that Gaul quotes is probably accurate. He also describes the layout for us:
“So, downstairs, I have a center aisle, which is composed of 12 guys, and I have two external aisles of six and six, so 24 total downstairs. And upstairs, I have six desks, one personal desk closed off with doors, and I have a conference room of six seats. Standing that could be eight or 10 in that [room].”
That brings us to the revelation that the trailer actually has two stories.
How the Arrow McLaren NTT Data Strategy Control center works
“We’re actually not even in the trailer when our cars are on track. So, we actually go remotely to our Timing Stands, which was where all the data gets to. But, from my understanding, we have the hard drives in the trailer. So all the information eventually makes it to the trailer and that’s where all the information is stored,” he says.
“I never thought I was gonna start a project that was going to take two years.”
Neyron says that the biggest achievement or the thing he’s most proud of pertaining to the trailer is the general design and comfortability in relation to the team.
“You’re not crammed. When you walk in, you’ll say, “Oh, this is crammed,” but compared to what we had before, this is very luxurious. It’s way more open. You’re able to talk from one guy to the other. You’re not looking at a wall, right? So, it’s a lot more efficient on that aspect of it and it just allows me to have more people in the same room that can hear […] it’s quicker I guess,” he explains.
Before this trailer upgrade, the team was working out of “another one that was only for 12 seats.” That meant some of the team was working remotely and they weren’t able to communicate face-to-face. While digital communication was still possible, and is always an option, that would obviously create delays or bottlenecks that don’t exist now. That’s thanks to the larger trailer size that can accommodate a lot more people.
Looking to the future of Arrow McLaren
Neyron also speaks on the development process, which took longer and was extended due to worldly events.
“The biggest challenge was the cost skyrocketed because of labor and materials costs through the COVID times. I received that trailer in 2023, and I started building in 2021. The cost went sky-high and we were able to get to a middle ground,” Neyron says. He also adds that the hardest thing about it all was “waiting on parts.” That makes a lot of sense considering what we know now and what happened to the markets during those times, especially with materials and labor costs.
When Gaul asks if there’s a lesson Neyron took away from this whole project, his answer is simple and effective, “Patience.”
“I never thought I was gonna start a project that was going to take two years. Once it got done, it was like, ” oh wow, we put a lot of time and effort into that.”
We don’t need to tell you the achievement that is the finished trailer. A two-story Strategy Control center with all those screens, miles of networking cables, and lots of working space for the professional team. Neyron agrees that’s one of the best aspects of the design. “Just the accomplishment of it and seeing it here in the paddock. It’s one of a kind; there’s not another one on the paddock.”
“[…] All the information eventually makes it to the trailer and that’s where all the information is stored.”
Gaul briefly asks about the team’s future or if there are any additional plans for the trailer.
“I’ve already met with some people and there’s bigger, better stuff out there that’s all up for options, but we’ll see.” He also adds, “The sky’s the limit. They’ll build anything that you need.”
That sounds interesting.
Be sure to watch the full video interview for more.
