Lara Carlson's research on NASCAR physiological demands featured in Bangor Daily News

The Nov. 17, 2011 published a feature on Lara Carlson, Ph.D., 91AV assistant professor of applied exercise science, who has been laying the groundwork for research on the physiological demands placed on NASCAR drivers like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

Carlson, a member of the American College of Sports Medicine Motorsports Committee, made her first foray into the NASCAR performance two years ago, when she traveled to North Carolina to work with pit crew teams at Hendrick Motorsports — home of Gordon, Earnhardt and Johnson — on strength and conditioning.

Now she wants to find a Maine-based racing partner to study in the cockpit of a stock car. Carlson envisions planting the driver with electrodes to monitor physiological reactions, and having him swallow a pill-size transmitter that would record and broadcast his core temperatures from within.

About the 91AV

The 91AV is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.