NASCAR Team Races to SolidWorks and COSMOSWorks to Build its Own Engines

Company Robert Yates Racing Industry Automotive / Transportation Location U.S.A. Product Used COSMOSWorks™, COSMOSMotion™ Type of Analysis Linear Static, Motion More Details

The Challenge
Robert Yates Racing (RYR) is a successful NASCAR team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has raced its No. 28 Texaco/Havoline Ford since 1988 and its No. 88 UPS Ford since 1996. From 1988 to 2000, RYR earned 50 wins, 280 top-10 finishes, and 31 pole positions.

The critical engine parts in an RYR racing car must withstand a significant pounding-almost a million engine cycles, but for all their importance, these parts are surprisingly fragile. That makes them something of a bottleneck. If one cracks or breaks, the race for that car is over. Pit crews can replace a flat tire or even a broken axle, but they can't do anything about engine failure during a race.

RYR was buying some of its engine components from a vendor who sold them throughout the industry. However, because of component failures, RYR decided to design these parts itself.

The Solution
RYR's goal was to create parts that would last the duration of the longest races. RYR engineers uses COSMOSWorks finite element analysis (FEA) software and COSMOSMotion virtual prototyping software to test high-performance engine parts, from bracketry that holds alternators and power steering pumps all the way up to valve train components like rocker arms, retainers, valve tray cover plates, and connecting rods.

Summary and Metrics:

• Improved engine reliability - zero part failures since 2001.
• Significant reduction of development time.
• Optimized parts for weight without sacrificing performance.