Davis Tour

Automotive Field Trip
Bill Davis Racing
High Point, NC
October 5, 2007

We had the privilege last week of touring Bill Davis Racing in High Point. The students were very excited about the trip, although they were not quite as enthusiastic about the 6:00 am departure time! Bill Davis Racing is a team that has employed some of Nascar's most talented drivers and Crew Chiefs, such as Jeff Gordon, Ray Evernham, Bobby Labonte, and Ward Burton, to name a few.

Grey, along with his dog Bondo, talks to the group about the history of BDR

There are 7 drivers that drive for Bill Davis Racing. In the Nextel Cup Series, there are 3 drivers – Dave Blaney ( #22), Jeremy Mayfield (#36) and Jacques Villeneuve, who ran his first Superspeedway race at Talladega on Sunday, October 7. In the Craftsman Truck Series, the drivers are: Mike Skinner (#5), Johnny Benson (#23) and Ryan Matthews (#22). In the Busch series, Bobby Santos III drives the #02. Bill Davis Racing began racing Pontiac, then switched to Dodge, and are now a Toyota racing team.

As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by our tour guide, Grey Warren, who is a Roanoke Rapids local. He said that he got his start in racing by hanging out at the Chantilly raceway in Roanoke Rapids and tagging along with local racer Joe Huss, who was a good friend of Grey's father. He said that he went to East Carolina, and never had any intention of ending up in this career field, but once he completed school, a few people that knew him worked to steer him towards this career. He worked as the catch can man for the #22 until 2004, when he retired from that position. “To give you an idea of how much this company has grown,” Warren said, “When we began in 1992 we had 15 total employees. Today, only 15 years later, we employ over 300 employees.”

Warren began by taking our group into the shop where he began to explain how the shop operates. He began his conversation by talking about the history of stock car racing, and how today, there really is nothing “stock” about stock car racing. In the past, the old adage was “What wins on Sunday sells on Monday.” This still holds true today, somewhat, but is not quite as true as it was in the past.

Today's cars are built on-site at each car's shop. They are built to specifications that NASCAR sets in its rules. Warren told us that in the past, the cars were very “boxy” and were not as sensitive to aerodynamics as they are today. Over the years, the cars have been built to be more and more aerodynamic, and as a result, the competitiveness in the sport has suffered. In order to make racing more competitive, and safer, NASCAR has just begun a major rule change in the specifications for this year, and they call this car “The Car of Tomorrow”. NASCAR began this 6 year quest to find a safer car after the death of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt at the 2001 Daytona 500. Grey pointed out to the group the differences in the CoT and the car that they are currently using, as they had both cars side-by-side in the shop. After this season, they will have run the CoT in 16 races. Nascar has mandated that this car be used in all races in the 2008 season. They had originally proposed 26 races only in 2008, but after surveying car owners, 80% agreed that they would want to go ahead with using this car full time.


You can see the difference in styles of the older style (left) and the Car of Tomorrow (Right). Notice the “boxier” front end.

For the older cars, the builders used 38 templates to build the car. Each template was individually laid across the car in specified areas to make sure the body was legal. The only difference in any of manufacturer cars (Chevy, Dodge, Toyota, or Pontiac) was the front end (the part with “Camry” on it in the picture.) The rest of the car is identical, regardless of the manufacturer. With the CoT, the entire body is identical, regardless of the manufacturer. The only difference is the decals that are placed on the car that are meant to make it look more like a “stock” car.

Warren also showed us a car that they had “bent the rules a little” on to gain a competitive advantage. If you look at the photo at the bottom left, you see that the top of the car appears to slope lower on the right side than on the left. This was done intentionally to gain the full benefit of the wind resistance. By building the right side slightly lower than the left, they picked up a huge wind advantage in turns with high embankments. He said that this car was checked, and under the old rules, it was perfectly legal. However, the car of tomorrow will not allow these types of changes. They have a one-piece template that must fit over the entire car at one time.

Warren said that Bill Davis Racing currently employs 12 engineers, some study wind resistance, others study engine technologies, some study suspensions and

The Engineering Offices (at the top) overlook the shop

The welders construct the frame for a Nextel Cup Car.

how they affect the handling of the car. He told us that this has become such a technology-driven sport, that every factor has to be taken into consideration. The engineers work in an office overlooking the shop, and he said that they spend many hours at the tracks taking different measurements and gathering data, and they also go to the wind tunnel at least every other week to make tests on the aerodynamics of the cars.

After touring the shop, we then went into the body shop, where we were shown the templates that he had spoke so much about, and also look at the larger template for the CoT, that is one-piece.

On the left, the welders in the body shop are building a frame for a Nextel Cup car. Notice the frame rail that I have circled in the picture. This is the heart of the race car. The car can be wrecked and repaired many times, if it is wrecked on the front end or the rear end. As long as the frame rails stay intact and parallel, the other metal can be cut off and rebuilt. However, if the frame rails are ever bent, the race car is no good. Grey told us that the cars that we often see at supermarkets or shown at various events are cars that have most likely had the frame rails bent. If the car could be run again, it would be. It is very unlikely that a car would be sold or given away just for display. Below, there are a few more pictures of the trip.


Warren explains camber gain to the group—Notice the templates for the older style cars on the wall behind him. They are applied one at a time.	Here is the template for the Car of Tomorrow. It is one piece.

HCC Student Bryan Mellinger poses with one of the trucks used for Pit Crew Practice.

Here is the group sitting on the Pit Crew practice wall.

We also toured the engine shop, where we were allowed to look at one of two dynamometers that BDR uses to test engines.

One of the engines (362 cubic inches). One of these would have a price tag of around $75,000.

The students pose for a picture in front of the #22 Caterpillar Pontiac that Ward Burton drove to victory in the 2002 Daytona 500. From L to R: John Tillery, Carlton Cutchin, Thomas Hale, David Putney, Nicholas Mills, Karl Wiltsie, Kevin Sanders, Tony Richardson, Kelly Richardson, Robert Norton, Scott Borrell (behind Norton), Joshua Baird, Laura Jenkins, Bryan Mellinger, Cody Dickens, Chase Vaughan.