peed secrets; everybody's got them. If youwant a competitive advantage, you betterbe able to keep them all to yourself.

That's hard enough if you are a race team, but for aspecialty manufacturer of race parts, theconfidentiality process can rival that of a national­security clearance.

Tucked awaya few miles due west ofIndianapolis Motor Speedway, Aerodine Compositesisconsidered a motorsports "skunk works: butafter 22 years, Aerodine Composites has "arrived."

So how did a company that spent the last 20yearsin the "hush-hush" closet get any attention,letalone respect, when it decided to step out fromtheshadows? Bursting onto the scene with brazenbravadowould unnerve the protected customerbase,but how about first helping win an NHRA FullThrottleDrag Racing Series world championship?

The rear wing on Larry Dixon's 2010 title-i1 National DRAGSTER

winning AI-Anabi Top Fuel dragster, a car thatwas a perfect 12-0 in final rounds last seasonand that has carried current points leader DelWorsham to three wins already this season, wascompletely designed and built in-house atAerodine Composites. Feedback and resultswere so positive that Aerodine designed acomplementary front wing that is seeing its firstseason of competition in 2011.

"Aerodine Composites was an important assetto AI-Anabi Racing in our quest for the Top Fuelchampionship," said team manager Alan Johnson,who has 13 NHRAworld championships to hiscredit. "I have absolute confidence in all of their

products, including the newly developed rear wing.With no on-track testing, we were able to mount therear wing and successfully run it in competition,which is a testament to [the company's] ability toget complex jobs done right the first time."

Supply and demandBecause much of what Aerodine has done

has been under the cloak of absolute secrecy, alist of past accomplishments has never beenpublished anywhere. What changed? It was asimple case of supply and demand.

"None of our carbon parts are off the shelf.Other wings on the market are good; it was theproblem of just getting one from other suppliers,"said Jim Oberhofer, general manager at KalittaRacing and crew chief for Doug Kalitta. "Once, wewaited two years; those kinds of delivery times canbe scary running the field of cars that we do."

Aerodine Composites works as an extensionof a race team's in-house resources. Engineersfrom all segments of motorsports - NHRA,IndyCar, American Le Mans Series, and NASCAR- make their mark on the sport by knowingsomething their competitors don't.

"There is an unparalleled level of trustbetween us and our clients, something we don'ttake lightly," explained Aerodine CompositesChief Engineer Craig McCarthy. "To make theirspeed secrets become a reality, they turn to us."

"Our team worked with NHRAto get the firstwing approved for competition," noted AI-AnabiRacing crew chief Brian Husen. "It was installedon Larry's car in Topeka in [May] 2010, and wenever took it off."

After almost 200 runs, the wing required nochanges and remains on the car now driven byWorsham for the 2011 season. Because AI-Anabi

is setting up both cars to be as identical aspossible, new rear and front wings were installedon Dixon's new car, which set the NHRAnationalrecord at 3.770.

Today, you'll find Aerodine Composites partsin almost all classes, including FunnyCar andPro Stock.

"We currently use Aerodine Composites for,the dash, front-wheel wickers, rear wing, and fuelpump cable rnount on Jeff's car," said Jon

•

Oberhofer, the crew chief on Jeff Arend'sDHLjKaiitta Motorsports Funny Car. "Becausethey put in so much time developing parts, itdoesn't make any sense for us to try to make theparts ourselves. I am always eager to tryanything new they offer."

Damage controlNot only does Aerodine Composites supply

nearly the entire Top Fuel and Funny Car field withfive different styles of carbon-fiber injector hats,Funny Car spoiler roll-cage assemblies, anti­intrusion cockpit panels, and a variety of intricatelymolded brackets and boxes, it also mounts bare­shell Funny Car bodies to team-supplied chassisand performs structural repair and maintenancefunctions throughout the grueling race season.

"We once damaged an injector in the busyseason, they patched up the broken parts, andalthough we were concerned, the repair turnedout to be so good that we ran it for another yearwithout a problem," said Jon Oberhofer. "Itsturnaround was very quick and done right."

Much of what Aerodine Composites brings tothe table in terms of design and manufacturingisn't only to increase speeds down the strip, it isalso intended to increase the bottom line of the

teams. In a world where engine parts areconsumed with every hit of the throttle, its partsare built with ruggedness in mind.

The company's very first carbon-fiber Top Fuelinjector hat lasted more than 300 laps down thetrack, surviving various backfires and explosionsbefore eventually being retired.

John Boyce, fabrication manager at JohnForce Racing, recalled an Indianapolis racewhere a blower explosion tore off the front half ofone of the team's Funny Cars.

"The Aerodine guys were in the stands - wedidn't call them - and they came back to the pit toassess the damage," he explained. "They gatheredtheir supplies and tools, came back out to the tracklater, repaired the car, and we were back in line thenext day. They bend over backwards to make ourtiming, which is usually 'order today, need ityesterday,' and once you talk to them, you neverneed to worry about it again."

The wing's the thingIt was back in 1989 that Aerodine

Composites made its first foray into the world ofNHRA Drag Racing, building a custom KawasakiPro Stock drag bike body for the late, great DaveSchultz. And as manufacturers began to dwindle,teams were experiencing supply problems, andthat's when Aerodine Composites decided it wastime to join the rear-wing party to not onlyalleviate the supply problems plaguing the teamsbut to demonstrate its engineering prowess.

"The harsh environment of a Top Fuel rearwing demands a design that is strong enough towithstand the enormous amount of load

generate,d at top speed without adding excessiveamounts of weight or drag," explained McCarthy,who holds two bachelor's degrees in engineeringand a master's degree in businessadministration. "The intense vibrations

associated with header pulses and tire shakewere also considered in the design process,along with the fact that in certain conditions thewing can be bombarded with flames emittingfrom the header pipes."

All Top Fuel rear wings must adhere to the SFIFoundation Inc. test spec. In a laboratoryenvironment, the main element of the AerodineComposites wing was subjected to repeated 4­ton force applied with a precision ram. It neverpermanently deformed more than 50­thousandths of an inch. That's like a momma

hippo and a couple of her kids stomping on thething without leaving a mark.

Throughout the design process, AerodineComposites worked with NHRA Vice President­Technical Operations Glen Gray and NHRADirector of Top Fuel and Funny Car Racing DanOlson to develop a product that not only fit withinthe current NHRA regulations but also provided agood value to the teams.

One of NHRA's specific goals is to allow thedevelopment of new performance-relatedtechnology without creating an environmentwhere every team has to buy the latest

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May 27,2011 I

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that will become mandatory for the 2012season, as of January 2011 the AerodineComposites Top Fuel front wing was the only parto successfully complete all phases of theaccepted SFI Spec 49.2.

"Both Shawn Langdon's and Morgan Lucas'cars have the rear wing," noted Barlam. "Wecan't see any variance between them and couldeasily swap one wing for the other if we had to."

Protecting the driverBecause the company stays riveted to the

leading edge of safety, Aerodine Composites wa~called in to provide driver protection after JohnForce's crash in 2007, which nearly ended thecareer of one of drag racing's beloved heroes.

A~rodine Composites manufactured the firstcomposite ballistic driveshaft cover and headsurrounds. It also designed and built a prototypenext-generation, NASCAR-inspired driver seatingsystem for the nitro cars that was unveiled at thE2009 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented byLucas Oil.

"Aerodine is a company that we can trust fo'quality and safety," said driver and JFRPresident Robert Hight. "We are always lookingfor ways to take weight off of the car, andAerodine Composites has helped us do thatwithout compromising safety. Their engineersknow that when you make parts lighter, youcompromise strength, but when carbon is donEright, it is not only lighter but also stronger.Aerodine Composites has opened up a newdoor to John Force Racing with theircomposites."

With such an astounding vote of confidenceand mighty high praise from its customers, it'sno wonder why the company get so many goldstars so often. A clue is found on its website

home page, "A Christ Centered Company" undera shimmering image of a dove.

And no matter when you visit, you'll alwaysfind an open Bible on the counter, along with allof the latest motorsports publications. It's whothey are. They may not be in your face everyweek, but they will continue to innovate from thEshadows for a long time to come. ND

After Kalitta Racing took delivery ofthe new Top Fuel rear wing, theyordered a second one and then added

the new front wing to the order."We want the wings to balance

each other," said Jim Oberhofer."We rely exclusively on their aeromap for the new combination andbelieve we are getting goodinformation, making a choiceinstead of speculating."

The exact layup specifications ofthe carbon-fiber, Kevlar, andaluminum wings remain secret, butwhen you meticulously manufactureto aerospace standards (AerodineComposites is an FAA-approvedrepair station for aerospacecomponents), using tools like computer-aidedmaterial cutting, process control, and autoclavecuring, what else can you expect? .

Barlam has used Aerodine Composites partssince 1990 when he became aware of them while

working with IndyCars at Hemelgarn Racing. Teammanager Lee Kunzman had hired Randall andDanny Rodine, founders of Aerodine Composites,way back in the 1980s, long before the companywas founded.

"The Aerodine guys are racers," Barlampointed out. "They understand what we need,and because the technology evolved down fromthe aerospace industries, motorsports can getaircraft quality in a race car part. Everyone islooking at parts that they never consideredbefore. We overanalyze to make sure we don'tmiss something."

What does this mean for NHRAteams? Rugged,

"go-fast" parts that the teams can rely on to carrythem safely (and quickly) down the track.

It's whafs Up front that countsUnlike the rear wing, the newly developed

front wing of a Top Fuel dragster is all aboutfinesse and balance. If too much downforce is

created, the car gets overlysensitive to driver input, becomesdarty, and burns the front tires offof the car.

"We are also involved with the

new front wing, and after testingwas completed, Larry was veryhappy with the changes the newwing brought to the car'sbehavior. Both matter, and we areworking on making a matched setwork together closer," Husen

J noted.

With a lack of downforce, thedriver has little or no steeringIinput; not something you want

happening at 320 mph when allof the candles are lit on the

7,000-horsepower monster.Developed in parallel with a

. : cewly·micted SF! speoifioatioe

A fresh lookA clean-sheet approach was used in the

design of the wing, which is made up of a mainelement, two adjustable secondary elements(known as flaps), and end fences.

A virtual wind-tunnel system, known asComputational Fluid Dynamics (CFD),was usedthroughout the process to refine geometry thatmaximizes downforce and minimizes drag. Morethan 40 design combinations were tested in thevirtual wind tunnel before settling on the finaldesign.

McCarthy was able to design a wing thatshowed, among other things, a significantreduction in induced drag by cleaning up someof the excessive wingtip vortices, the turbulentair that spins off the edges.

"Early in the project, we knew in order for thewing to be accepted for competition it wouldhave to maintain the same look and feel as the

preceding wing," said McCarthy. "We weren'table to change the geometry of the wing asmuch as we had originally intended, so we stillhave some valuable information for futureversions."

The design gives crew chiefs more flexibilitywith how they can tune the wing to meet ever­changing track and environmental conditions. Asa result, some teams are rethinking the way theyuse their wings to complement their tune-up,exactly what Morgan Lucas and Kalitta Racingsay they are doing.

"We chose the wing not only for its betterquality but because Aerodine Compositessupplies us with an aero map, a matrix thatprovides us with different drag and downforcenumbers at different settings based on track andweather conditions," said Joe Barlam, assistantcrew chief on Shawn Langdon's Top Fueler. "Inwinter testing, we got the fastest top speed we'veever had. The wing was part of that. We wereable to use less drag and downforce because wehad the aero numbers; it was a calculateddecision and not a guess."

components to becompetitive.

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