At the competitive edge of every professional sport, the margins of victory are tiny differences in energy, efficiency, skill and physical configuration. Over time, this gives rise to elaborate regulations governing competitors’ behavior, their contests, component designs, and the unending attempts to create a winning edge by stretching the rules. In response, NASCAR adopted more sophisticated methods to verify a racecar’s dimensions at its research and development facility in Concord, NC. After using Hexagon Metrology’s (North Kingstown, RI) proprietary GridLOK technology, NASCAR officials felt confident they could inspect a car to tighter tolerances. With the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow (CoT) in 2007 (see Sidebar 1), adopted in response to safety concerns, fair competition and cost management, the implementation of new standards necessitated a more rigorous means of enforcing specifications with tighter tolerances as compared to prior generations of racecars.
Metrology became an essential part of the build process once NASCAR brought tighter tolerances into play. To replicate verification procedures right down to the equipment used, Hendrick Motorsports (Concord, NC) (see Sidebar 2) invested in 12 ROMER portable coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) of varying styles and sizes from its official partner for dimensional metrology products and services. The arms are used for both tactile probing and laser scanning of the car bodies to guarantee they fall within NASCAR’s required tolerances. Though most measurements are taken with touch probes to verify specific points, Hendrick Motorsports also equipped some of the arms with the CMS108 laser scanner to inspect complete car bodies. Careful to stay within the required specifications, the four Hendrick teams max out tolerances to gain every possible ounce of performance.