When running a NASCAR team, every piece of the puzzle counts.
Your pit crew needs to be fast, your hauler driver needs to be on time, and even your communications systems, whether on or off the track, need to be top-notch to ensure that every race week is as perfect as possible.
This season, a veteran team in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series brought a veteran of the communications industry into the fold as DGM Racing introduced its new Official Team Communications Provider, Setcom.
Though racing fans may not know who Setcom is, those who work in the public safety or industrial sectors likely know their line of wireless headsets and communications systems, used across the country by countless first responders.
Their long line of wireless headsets and communications systems is used by firefighters, EMS, and law enforcement, and their products can be found in other industries like construction and oil and gas, building communications systems for individuals working in fields that need rugged and reliable products.
This experience in loud mission‑critical environments translates naturally to the world of racing, where clarity, durability, and simplicity are just as essential. Still, while Setcom may have an established record in the public sector, motorsports is a major step, albeit a somewhat familiar one for Setcom.
In the past, Setcom supported select motorsports applications, but nearly two decades have passed since that work. Now, re-entering the sport at the second-highest level of stock car racing, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, marks a meaningful and exciting step forward for the brand.
With NASCAR established in its track communications systems, Setcom needs to find a unique way to work within the sport, setting its sights on helping family-owned NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series team DGM Racing beef up its communications around raceday, including pre-race and post-race needs.
DGM Racing, owned by NASCAR veteran Mario Gosselin and his family, has proven to be one of the most consistent and competitive underdogs in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage for nearly a decade now.
Over the past few seasons, DGM has shown that even in the ever-changing sport of NASCAR, hard work can still take a team a long way.
As Setcom Director of Sales & Marketing, Lori Oquendo, explained, DGM was the right fit for Setcom as the team brings the same mindset to the race track week in and week out that the team at Setcom sees in their customers.
“They have the same grit, the same consistency, and that crew first or team first mindset, and that mirrors a lot of our customers and what they do,” Oquendo said. “So, for us, it feels kind of like a natural extension to our mission to provide critical communication to first responders and industrial crews.”
To get DGM integrated with Setcom systems, the team has turned to its wireless LiberatorMAX system to help them communicate in the loud pre- and post-race environments you’ll find during a NASCAR race weekend.
The LiberatorMAX system allows up to eight DGM crew members to work together and communicate hands‑free in full‑duplex (everyone can talk and hear each other simultaneously). The system offers no base station, no pairing, and simple operations. The system also offers up to sixteen selectable communication groups, allowing multiple crews or VIP groups to operate side‑by‑side without cross‑talk.
Setcom is also giving DGM a leg up with their VIP guests during races, as part of a unique application to DGM’s VIP pit box experience, allowing the team’s VIPs to talk to one another while also listening to live team radio through a handheld race‑day scanner plugged directly into the headset. This creates an immersive, premium pit‑box experience that traditional scanner headsets can’t replicate.
NASCAR fans are used to seeing brands and products on the sides of racecars or in the hands of crew members and drivers, but rarely do they get to see these brands used by teams competing at the highest levels of NASCAR and by those serving the public in the real world.
This rare air makes the pairing of DGM and Setcom a real eye-catching combo at the track, an area in which Setcom felt a need to prove itself.
Oquendo says that loud, high-stress environments are exactly where Setcom shines. With decades of experience supporting firefighters, police motor units, and industrial teams, NASCAR provides a high‑visibility proving ground to demonstrate the same durability, clarity, and simplicity that their mission‑critical customers rely on.
“This is a high-visibility ground to demonstrate our credibility in different spaces and show our customers exactly what our equipment is built for,” Oquendo said.
