MIA Mission Visit to USA 20Th 30Th May, 2005

MIA Mission visit to USA 20th – 30th May, 2005. Notes:

Aims of mission: An 18 strong team of representatives of UK motorsport engineering and education on a fact finding mission to the major region of USA motorsport activity and education provision.

Objectives of Dr J.K. Martin as Open University delegate on mission:

Gain a better appreciation of the USA motorsport engineering technical institutes, R & D facilities, workshops and training establishments;

Sample the qualities of engineering design, manufacture and operations of USA race teams;

Sample the education and research capabilities of well known USA universities and colleges in the sector;

Make contacts with USA motorsport engineering education providers and discuss possibilities of co-operation in producing distance learning education courses and training packages.

General conclusions:

The visit was most interesting, illuminating and educational. In the 9 available (non-flying) days the mission visited 11 research and education centres, 2 race car manufacturers’ plants, 1 production car manufacturer’s plant and attended 5 networking reception events. In addition the group took in a high profile NASCAR 500 mile race and the Indianapolis 500 race.

The most impressive feature was the amount of investment and resources being dedicated to motorsport engineering and education at all levels from school through community college level to university degree and post degree levels.

The management of expectation of students was clearly in focus. Whilst in some ways using motorsport as an “attractor” to bring students into mechanical engineering courses, it was clear that not all students could, or even intended to, find jobs in the sector. There was however an encouragement of “hands on” approaches to race engineering, in developing collegiate race teams, seconding students to race teams for work experience etc.

There was a common acceptance of the need to incorporate business aspects in motorsport engineering courses in addition to mainstream engineering subjects. Examples would be the supply chain management, operations and procedures, marketing, dealing with and retaining sponsors, health and safety issues etc.

There is definitely scope for producing distance learning modules in motorsport engineering and management, partly as remedial and introductory packages for incoming students, partly to augment teaching materials and techniques on full time courses. Few of the education providers had heard of the Open University, but most were already embarking on or thinking of e-based short courses for their own students.

The potential market for distance learning modules on motorsport engineering and management is large, e.g. over 2000 students at the NASCAR technical institute and Greenville colleges alone. Most of the education providers would seem to welcome the idea of co-operating with such as the Open University in developing relevant short course distance learning modules. The finished product must however be of high quality, properly resourced and delivered on time ! Contacts will be followed up for further discussions.

Day to day activities summary: Fri. 20th May, 2005, day and evening

Flight Gatwick to Charlotte. First night, informal dinner with fellow members of mission, combined group comprising industry and education representatives.

NASCAR* R & D Centre Sat. 21st May, 2005, a.m.

Hosted by Chad Little, ex-driver. Centre mainly concerned with safety, competition and costs. Business centre at Daytona. Charlotte and Huntsville are the hub of NASCAR[*] Prepare all the rules, concerned about environment and noise, starting to look at leaded v un-leaded gasoline (currently use “racing gas”). Teams not allowed to use data acquisition on race weekends (OK for private testing). Engines all V8 (predominantly Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford) all use Holley 4 barrel carburettors (mandatory). Not even considering fuel injection. The primary objective of the series is an entertainment show – large fast cars with big sponsor areas. Quite common to have 20 cars on the lead lap after 500 miles of racing. Cars are quite simple in technology terms, build cost approx. $70k.

Body shape templates are taken from production vehicles. Tolerances + 1\32 inch. Hood (bonnet), roof, deck (boot) lid have to be production or “stock” items. Bodies are steel. Centre has 50 employees, about half of whom are Engineers, half directors, to administer the series. Do quite a bit of impact testing working with NebraskaUniversity. Safety features are “HANS” (head and neck support) device, integral seats, seat belts, energy absorbing foam surroundingdriver. Most impacts are rearwards, most severe are frontal. Now deformable barriers line the circuits – 3 ft of energy absorbing foam and steel strips. Drivers now walking away from 90g impacts (aiming for 100g). No energy absorbing structure in cars themselves (they are built like tanks !).

Wind tunnel work has resulted in the roof spoilers, and generally limiting speeds to below 190 mph have reduced the tendency for cars to take off when spinning. There are no underbody aerodynamic tweaks allowed, but teams can build different cars to suit various tracks and often build in shape offsets (within the rules) to cope with the interactive running aerodynamics.

Tyre warmers not allowed. Tyres are issued at the tracks. One fuel source at tracks (Sunoco). Ballast allowed only in the outer rails – can reposition front to rear. Drug testing carried out. Drivers cooled with air through helmets, have carbon monoxide filters etc. Penalties usually deducting points, teams don’t want to embarrass sponsors.

NASCAR 500 Race, Lowes Speedway Sat. 21st May, 2005, p.m. & evening

Part of Nextel cup series. Very spectacular show. Guests of NASCAR, guided tour around paddock and teams, witness scrutineering (“Tech.”) etc. Race in evening – won by oldest driver in race (sponsored by Viagra !), 1st prize $1m, attendance 150 000.

Richard Childress racing Sun. 22nd May, 2005, a.m.

Bill Patteson – executive vice president. Very open with information and allowing photographs etc. Company 35 years old, 86,000 ft2, 330 people. Prepare cars and engines for 5 teams, include first build of 25 chassis per year. Cars are all steel and hand built, minimum weight 1900 lbs. Different chassis to suit tracks: super speedway, intermediate, short tracks.

Engine shop specialises in General Motors V8 small block, 358 cu. in, (5.87 litres), re-machined and developed to produce 840 h.p. on carburettor. Intake manifolds to suit tracks. Engine costs $68k. Qualify, practice and race on one engine – if a change needed car goes to back of grid. Magnesium alloy gearbox cases, 4 gears mandated with 4th 1:1, no overdrive ratios allowed, all straight cut gears, no synchromesh.

Operates as teams within a company, own spray units etc. Crew chiefs under RCR umbrella – will work together before and after races, but races are all out (no team orders). Transporters 80 000 lbs gross (on weight limit), cost $500k with another $500k for equipment, cover 45000 miles p.a.

Personnel work 40 hours with variable work week. Pay guaranteed for 40 hrs for all weeks (even if short) but any hours over are paid at half time rates. Higher than average salaries. Have a lot of CNC machines.

Engine shop fully equipped to build 600 - 650 units per year. All parts in a life program built into a fully re-machined block. 1 block will last about 3 years or 20k miles of racing before being over bored and out of spec. Have 4 dyno. cells, 1 of which has “taped” races. 1 chassis dyno, 1-7 post rig, no shaker rigs. NASCAR mandates use of Holley 4 barrel carburettor which is very heavy.

Company operates 5 aircraft and has a very plush board room for enticing potential sponsors. Driver salary paid by teams ($1m -$2m p.a. plus percentage of prize money, royalties, appearances etc.). One nice touch was the fan walk where the public can enter and oversee from a public gallery most of the operations in the factory and work in progress for as long as they want. The visit finished with a trip and lunch to the Childress vineyards in company with numerous mayors and local government officials from the area.

Clemson University/ICAR dinner Sun. 22nd May, 2005, evening

Networking event with staff from Clemson and the ICAR project (International Centre for Automotive Research).

UK Trade and Industry briefing Mon. 23rd May, 2005 a.m. (1)

Introduction by Mark Borst, Vice Consul (trade), UK T & I Dept. Companies moving to South East of USA, influenced by good weather, low cost (and low hassle) of setting up greenfield sites, less union problems etc. Mercedes Benz, BMW, Hyundai all investing. General Motors and Toyota are co-operating on a joint venture (unthinkable a few years ago). Whole South East area is expanding in automotive Engineering (including motorsports) as textiles and agriculture decline.

UK T & I can help with articles for £200 in localised trade magazines. Effectively act as Government subsidised consultants, and can also help with research. Noted that at many races there are $3.8b worth of private jets ! Drag racing is also on the up.

NASCAR Technical Institute Mon. 23rd May, 2005 a.m. (2)

Introduced by Dennis Hendrix, director. A new 140 000 ft2 very well equipped technical college equivalent with 1500 students on campus. Three strands of teaching 1) the compulsory main core of 42 weeks general automotive plus 6 weeks on engines, covering the entire car, 2) a 15 week Ford based option, 3) an 18 week NASCAR option plus 3 working weeks as pit crew. Of the 1500 students about 800 – 900 make graduation of which 500 will take the motorsport option. Not known how many actually make it into the sport.

Students come from schools (18 years old) or may be a bit older, some with engine experience. There are financial aid schemes and job systems for students’ support. Overall there are 15 000 students over 9 major schools. Teachers certified via National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. Recent winners of a student competition assembling and running an engine in 20 minutes !

“Jasper” team donated 50 engines in a 5 year period. Also many gearboxes and transmissions. Lots of sponsors on board, including “Snap-on” (tools and equipment). $1m of Snap-on materials on each campus, students offered a full complement of

tools for a discount price of $300, and receive a Snap-on tool box on graduation.

Students work on campus for 6 hours per day, 5 days per week. Live in apartment complexes around neighbourhood (avoids collegiate type parties !).

300 ft by 80 ft hands-on workshop backed onto class rooms. Use instructional “half-cars” short body cars on dolleys to maintain and standardise training input on known vehicles. Fully equipped welding shops with overhead gantry system extraction. Labs for transmissions equipped by Jerico Racing Transmissions on a product placement basis.

Applications shop contains 4 off laser levelled steel surface plates, each full vehicle size and 1 inch thick. Many computers in evidence. Ford lab. programs at community college level replaced 44 separate community colleges. Covers 90 % Ford training programme – students employed in Ford dealerships.

In fabrication shop chassis seamless tubes (3 mm) are bored internally to ensure uniform wall thickness (not all the real race teams do this).

Above ground rolling road facility. Dyno room experience training includes varying intake conditions and jetting carbs. Main lecture rooms designed with access for full sized car. Race teams on steering committee. Only 2 % of students are female.

Universal Technical Institute was started as a private company, now public. Included auto mechanics, diesel fitting, collision repair etc.on the different campuses. Now an exclusive education partner to NASCAR. All done as a 10 year project. Fee structure variable with employer dealers giving payback options. $25k fee for each student to cover the core module plus NASCAR option, all completed in one year. Graduates could expect to be earning $39k p.a.within 2 years.

Looking at e-learning modules prior to joining for say $99 each. Looking globally, including China. $millions left on the table not claimed by students for support. Dodge was paying $ 800k for 10 fully reimbursed scholarships plus accommodation

Main NASCAR sponsorship per car runs at $10m, including TV “scrap” piece space, $5-6m for fender space.

Evernham race team Monday 23rd May, 2005, p.m.

Introduced by Dr Eric Warren and Ray Evernham. Hired initially by Dodge to design and build a race car for the NASCAR series and field 2 teams. Have a sister company in England. Began 5 years ago with a greenfield site. Cars asymmetric both in suspension ride heights etc. and actual body shape. Have 20 Engineers in total covering cars and engines, most teams have 7 or 8. In 1996 probably only 5 or 6 Engineers in whole lot of teams. Have 55 fabricators.

Chassis - all CAD and CAE prepared using Catia, V5, Smarteam, and laser cut tube ends. All parts drawn in CAD except about 100 drawn manually. Tube generally 0.090 inch (2.3 mm) seamless. Fabricators’ salaries can vary from $30k to $100k. Cars weigh 3600 lb in race trim, experiencing 70001b lateral and 8000 lb vertical on the banking. 39 races in the series, including a run of 33 weekends with no breaks ! Have a chassis dynomometer with 200 mph wheel speed used to fettle cars before shipment. Have noted better correlation between track and simulations than with track and 7 post rig work owing to “false” restraints, but rig still good for quality control and repeat calibrations.

Team works 7.30 to 5.30, with 1 hr lunch break. Takes 4 to 8 days to construct a chassis, 3 days body, 1 day to fit out, 1 day in paint, i.e. approx. 12 working days to build a car, comprising 300 hours for chassis, 240 for body. Have 5 transporters, 2 dedicated to testing. Have an outside area under an awning for pit stop practice and analysis, pit crew also having a work out gym regime. Builds 96 engines per year, noting only 0.5 % variations in power output.

NASCAR generates $2.1b in licensed sales. Typical team running 1 car will have actually 14 cars in a season, built to suit the differing track characteristics. Suspension travel will be 5 inches from static.

Generally a very professional team with all effort and funding going to the cars (no fancy boardrooms, vineyards etc – cf Childress above !). Workshop motto: “Say what you mean, mean what you say, don’t say it mean !).”

MIA/UNCC Reception Mon. 23rd May, evening

Network event with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, included guests from NASCAR Technical Institute.On Tuesday the industry group had their own schedule of industrial visits, the education group continued as below:

“5OFF5ON” Pit Instruction and Training Tues. 24th May, a.m.

Introduced by founder Breon M. Klopp. A specialised training 24 000 ft2facility dedicated to the analysis, training and fitness coaching for pit stop crews. Set up in 2000 as a private company building on previous studies. Complete with a ¼ mile test track and pit lane for practicing pit stop work, trying out radio communication etc. Can take 6 cars at a time, has a set up plate for set up training. Rainwater is collected and stored for use as a dummy fuel in stops, the test cars having a dummy tank to accept it. Hosts in August the National Pit stop championships, with $120k prize money. Uses ex-race cars purchased at about $15k each. Not affiliated to any team or agency.

Teams use Nitrogen activated pneumatic tools, 2 wheel nut guns @ $1600 each, overhauled for $300 every other week, 2 sockets at $75 each new for each race. 1 pit stop practice run costs $500. 1 trolley jack allowed per car at a cost of $2000, rebuilt after every race.

Hit on the concept that instead of expecting or training teams’ race mechanics to work pit stops, perhaps better to train athletes not necessarily interested in racing to work in a choreographed manner as a pit stop team. Has fully equipped private gymnasium and staff for designing and running body efficiency and training programmes for crews. Trains 150 crews per year, 12 people to each crew. Takes 8 weeks for them to practice sufficiently to be fully effective.

Can supply the fully trained team for hire to a race team or train up the personnel supplied by the race team. A pit crew member fully trained and coached can command a salary of $100k p.a., well over 3 times the state average. Also does corporate work using 5 show cars for demonstrations and team building management programmes using motorsport to facilitate the attitudes and processes, including 6 sigma.

Carried out detailed research into the activity analysis, timings and choreography of pit stops for various scenarios (depending on what suspension adjustments required etc.). Devised detailed specifications of pit crew activity and member sizes and operations to minimise time spent. Compared the effects of gaining or losing split seconds in the pits to the length of time and number of race laps to regain such lost time. Showed fascinating videos of results of pit stop work, both good and bad.

As a result of this work the average pit stop time has reduced by 42 % since 1985, a further 17.5 % since 1998. Recommended that this fascinating work be published.