General Motors Opening New Racing Technical Center In Charlotte (Update)

The Charlotte Observer reports that the planned General Motorsports facility in the Charlotte, NC area will turn its attention from motorsports to manufacturing military vehicles.

In May, GM announced a delay in building the Charlotte Technical Center due to the pandemic.

The facility was originally announced in January 2020, with plans to open mid-year. At the time, General Motors said in a statement that.” The new technical center provides GM the opportunity to expand and enhance its support for Chevrolet NASCAR race teams as well as various other GM racing teams.”

General Motors has announced it will open a new technical center in the Charlotte, North Carolina region that will be entirely dedicated to performance and racing.

In a statement, GM said the new facility will expand its performance and racing capabilities and place “a focus on transferring knowledge and resources from the racing programs to core vehicle engineering.” In short, this engineering campus will allow GM to better apply what it learns on track in IMSA, NASCAR and IndyCar to its road cars. The center is expected to be operational by mid-2020, so the automaker should be able to reap the benefits of the new facility in the very near future.

“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,” GM’s vice president of performance and motorsports, Jim Campbell, said in a statement. “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.”

Many NASCAR teams are located in the Charlotte area, including Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske. The region is also home to GM racing supplier partners, such as Earnhardt Childress Racing, which supplies the Small Block V8 racing engines for the Cadillac DPi-V.R prototype. As such, the center will allow GM to more closely align itself with these teams and partners and potentially bring in new teams into its NASCAR, IMSA DPi or IndyCar fold.

The new racing facility will feature facilities for vehicle simulation, aero development and also an advanced new simulator. The simulator will be used by GM engineers to develop new products, like the forthcoming Corvette C8 performance variants, and will also be used by professional racing drivers looking to hone their skills before a race weekend.

“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,” added Campbell. “Racing