I have a NASCAR buddy who works at RCR and he offered me the chance to come by and check out the Cup shop with him. The only things I couldn't see were the manufacturing buildings and the engine room... that stuff is secret. There is a walkover that you can see some stuff in, but he took me into the back rooms to see the fabrication shops. While there, I checked out the musuem. Here are some pictures....

This is the assembly room. Here there are about 25 cars in various states of assembly. Some are in full paint, most are somewhere between primer and decaled.


















This is an ECR engine with the new EFI system. The EFI system was developed for all teams by McClaren. It has more sensors in the intake and some other things to it that the old carbureated engines didn't have. It is one of the only engines I've seen, aside from sold old Pontiac engines and maybe a Dodge with an Offenhouser intake, that you could slide your hand under the intake manifold. A couple of other strange things stood out to me. The starter goes in through the back of the bell housing instead of the front, and they have a very small alternator.











Inside the fabrication room is a whole wall of a exhaust pipes and various exhaust set ups.




This is inside the fabrication shop. You can see the various parts of the fenders and doors riveted together, ready for a little bondo, primer, and paint!! (Or a wrap)





Templates and frames...





There is a room specially for the haulers. A Kevin Harvick car was being loaded up to test out some new anchoring straps.
















Also, here is Paul Menards car for the Daytona 500. It will have to be modified now, despite that it is painted and ready to go, because NASCAR handed down a new ruling that the rear bumper has to have about two inches of metal added to teh bottom of it to increase its drag.



Little secret.. the whole car is a vinyl wrap. I saw them putting one of these on a pit box. It's a piece of vinyl that sticks when heat is applied. They heat it lightly with a torch, lay it down, and squeegee it out.

This is where the pit crews practice at. Pretty small area really.









And what amazes your NASCAR historian is some of the old stuff from way back in the day that is still being run. Ford's 9 inch rear end is still the standard rear end,. Many of these existed, different ones for qualifying, racing, and different tracks. Some of the rear ends have a Ford Racing logo on them. Others have an MW logo.







Front frame work, however, is based on a '68 Chevelle. Didn't get a good picture of that for you. Sorry.

Then here are the cars from the RCR musuem!!!

 

If one looks closely at the rear end of the Harvick 500 winning car, you may notice that the rear window geometry is not symmetrical. It comes in more on the drivers side than the right, and the roof off sets a little.













Also, while we were in the museum, a guy who does a NASCAR show on Fox Sports networ kwas going through the RCR Museum giving a personal tour for TV by Chocolate Myers, the long time fuel man for Dale Earnhardt. I shook his hand and he was telling me a bit about the show they were doing.



I think I could do his old job....

 

AWESOME pics. What a tour that must have been. Wow!

 

Very Awesome, i hope to goto race shops like that some day

 

Duane, those are some pretty sweet pics man, I would love to go through there someday! Thanks for the great pics, I'm jealous.....

 

There is an overhead walkway that most people get to look down in the shop from. But I have sources that allow me to see some cool stuff like this

 

My wife loved the pics too. Thanks again for sharing.

 

WOW. Incredible pics. I wish I could do that. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

Great coverage Duane! I missed RCR when I was in NC. If I lived in NC I'd hang around out front of one of these shops until they hired me for something (even if it was a job just keepin' people from hangin' around out front)

 

I actually know richard childress's grandson TY Dillon, we race online together and he knows who i am when i see him at the race track. My dad and i sometime in the future are planning to go down to charolette for the all-star race and the coca cola 600 and go to all the race shops and the nascar hall of fame as well.

Those pictures are really cool.