Siemens PLM Software Speeds Hendrick Motorsports to NASCAR Championship

By DE Editors

Siemens PLM Software has announced Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports — whose cars are developed with the help of Siemens PLM Software technology — won the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship for the fifth straight year.

Siemens PLM Software-sponsored races teams have now won 11 straight NASCAR Sprint Cup championships, including every championship this century. For Hendrick Motorsports, this was a record tenth Sprint Cup owner championship, the most in NASCAR.

Hendrick Motorsports uses NX software, Siemens PLM Software’s digital product development solution, to design and optimize performance of their race cars. The design, analysis and simulation tools in NX help Hendrick Motorsports engineers to virtually build and test parts that will maximize horsepower and performance on the track each weekend.

“Hendrick Motorsports uses Siemens PLM Software technology to stay at the forefront of competition,” says Jim Wall, engineering group manager, Hendrick Motorsports. “When you’re racing 36 weeks a year you have to enhance performance on the fly. NX allows Hendrick Motorsports to move from the drawing board to production of parts for our fleet of engines and cars, often in hours, versus days and weeks as previously required.”

Siemens PLM Software’s Teamcenter software helps Hendrick Motorsports manage the entire product lifecycle for their racing operations, helping to make sure that designs meet requirements, and to give access to information to their engineers and crews. Hendrick Motorsports also tracks every engine and car part and assembly that they build and race, from concept to end of life.

"Everything we do in engineering is about gaining a competitive advantage. When we can use Teamcenter to make better decisions at the track that translates into a competitive advantage," says Wall. "Having all of our product data readily available, even at the race track, enables us to not only produce vehicles more quickly but also to respond to, and solve, problems that occur during a race much faster. By doing so, we believe we improve race performance, reliability and durability — key elements to winning races.”

For more information, visit Siemens PLM Software.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.