General Motors to build new tech center to support racing teams

The facility will be located in Concord, N.C., less than 10 miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway. The new technical center will provide an opportunity to recruit potential GM employees from the growing pool of technical talent in the Charlotte area. 

It is expected to open by mid-2020.

“We’re thrilled to expand GM’s U.S. footprint by establishing a greater presence in Charlotte, a community that has become a racing and engineering mecca,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s U.S. vice president of performance and motorsports. 

“The new facility will be close to a number of key Chevrolet and Cadillac racing partners, teams and suppliers. This will allow for improved collaboration as well as access to some of the industry’s best talent.”

GM hopes the new technical center will expand and enhance its support for its Chevrolet NASCAR race teams as well as other GM racing programs. The facility will feature Driver-in-the-Loop simulators, vehicle simulation, aero development and other practices designed to advance racing and production capabilities.

“Chevrolet and Cadillac Racing are two of the winningest brands in motorsports. This new facility will build upon their legacies and hopefully lead to even more success on the track,” said Campbell. 

“Racing helps us accelerate the development, performance and popularity of our cars and trucks across the world.”

Development technologies often make their way from the racing world to production vehicles. 

Computational Fluid Dynamics, scale model testing and rolling wind-tunnel testing were all pioneered in racing and are now used extensively in production vehicle development.