Gordon - DuPont

The department currently is working on anew configuration for a cylinder head.Wall and his team – heavy users of computer-aideddesign and manufacturingsystems – will design, model, and test thepart in the computer before any metal isever shaped. “We test stress and thermalloads in the computer so we’re very closeto the final part design before we make thefirst prototype.“We give the race teams the basic tools,then they put them all together. The driversdo the final testing. It’s incredible whatdrivers like Jeff can sense in a car – he canfeel a 5-horsepower difference in anengine. He’s got extraordinary hand-eye Jeff Gordon’s dashboard is set so instruments and track are directly in his field ofcoordination and a very sharp mind. Hetakes maximum advantage of the tools we give him.”At Hendrick Motorsports, putting all the basic tools together involves the efforts of some 320 employees workingin 400,000 square feet of building complex spread over 67 acres near Charlotte, North Carolina. “Each of those320 people is critical to the success of the Hendrick race teams,” says Robbie Loomis, crew chief for Gordon.“Nothing symbolizes this better than the pitcrew on Sundays. They are so in tune with eachother, they’re almost like one person out there.That’s the only way we can have stops of 14 and15 seconds race after race.”HMS was the first organization to field professionalpit crews that train four to six hoursduring the week. Members are selected for theiragility, experience playing team sports, and theirwill to win. And every crew member can use theservices of a HMS fitness trainer to assure thatthey are in shape and race-ready.“This reflects Rick Hendrick’s attitude towardThe #24 air dam is reinforced with Kevlar people,” concludes Loomis. “He has a knack for® for strength without unwantedtaking ordinary people and making them give110 percent. He knows that, ultimately, it’s people who win races.”To learn more about Hendrick Motorsports and JeffGordon, go to www.hendrickmotorsports.com orwww.jeffgordon.com.The red-tipped probe digitizes a cylinder head to ensureconformity with specifications.