By its nature, auto racing is an evolutionary process. Throughout the history of motorsports, parts and pieces were developed and then modified and adapted to their specific performance environment. This process often takes years, and it allows racing activities like NASCAR to become the fast, durable, dynamic sporting events they are today.
But let's say you're not in the evolutionary stream. Let's say that sometime, years ago, the process of adapting in an increasingly competitive environment halted. To return, you would need to become a creator, and if the timeline of your return to the environment of "survival of the fittest" was limited to 500 days, you would need to call on every resource and idea to be successful.
Enter The NASCAR Platform TeamThe Dodge Motorsports solution may well revolutionize the way the auto manufacturers look at racing technology. The bread and butter of these companies is, of course, production machinery for the consumer; racing isn't an end in itself. Chrysler has a reputation of using space-age technology and science in place of more common, time-consuming methods of design, simulation, and prototyping. Due to changes in manufacturing, it doesn't take three or four years to design a new model, build it, and ready it for sale; it often takes less than 30 months.
When Dodge's network of dealers and DaimlerChrysler management announced that the nameplate would again be part of the NASCAR scene, and put it on a 500-day execution schedule, knowledgeable individuals wondered how they could get all the work done. There were no cars and no engine, and although Ray Evernham, who Chrysler tapped to spearhead their efforts, might well be the most talented individual in the sport, he couldn't do it all himself. Enter the NASCAR Platform Team.
Just like production vehicle projects, Dodge dedicated a team of experienced engineers from each discipline who used the technology at the company's disposal to streamline development of the NASCAR program. Meanwhile, a conglomerate of NASCAR teams, including Petty Enterprises and BIll Davis Racing, came together with Evernham to form a NASCAR racing "brain trust" that delivered additional input and real-world experience. In a groundbreaking move for the sport, these three teams, plus the others who joined since the 2000 Daytona 500 announcement, all work in "platform" mode as well, freely interchanging ideas.
Coordinating the effort from the factory is Tim Culbertson, Program Manager, Dodge NASCAR Winston Cup Program, Dodge. He has a team of engineers from a wide variety of technologies working on the effort, but deflects praise away from himself.
"Dodge engineers and all the other resources at the DaimlerChrysler Technical Center are service organizations for the race teams using Dodge vehicles in NASCAR events," he states. "Our work supports their development and on-track testing efforts, but it doesn't replace them. Our facilities supplement what they have, providing an additional resource. But working as one team and sharing all of our knowledge will hopefully give us the competitive advantage we can ride to the winner's circle."
The Tech CenterThe DaimlerChrysler Tech Center is the largest known building on the planet; it is bigger then the Pentagon. The 504-acre site 30 miles north of Detroit, with 5.2 million square feet, is the working home of over 12,000 people. The centerpiece is the 15-story DaimlerChrysler World Headquarters, hubbed with the other portions of the building. These are the Design Office; scientific and environmental laboratories; a manufacturing pilot-plant operation for a prototype production line; and a 1.8 mile test track adjacent to the center.