Kalitta Motorsports works to create product designs and expand manufacturing capabilities for the multi-time world championship drag racing team. The team has worked since 2015 with Autodesk, a global leader in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, to do so. This weekend Autodesk will be the primary sponsor of Shawn Langdon’s 11,000 horsepower Top Fuel dragster during the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Over 1,000 parts are now designed and made in the Kalitta Motorsports CNC, chassis, and fabrication shop using Autodesk solutions.
“We have built our entire parts manufacturing and design program with the help of Autodesk technology,” said Chad Head, Kalitta Motorsports General Manager. “We started in 2015 machining our clutch assemblies and now we are doing clutch assemblies, cylinder heads and so many more parts. It is a huge cost savings and so much more efficient. The Autodesk software is a game changer for us and they are an integral part of our success at Kalitta Motorsports and Kalitta Air.”
The Autodesk product Design and Manufacturing Collection enabled Kalitta to design the clutch assembly in Autodesk Inventor and make it using Autodesk’s best-in-class CAM machining solutions. Specifically, “adaptive” tool paths result in light, fast and constant-engagement strategies that widely replace slower, heavier cuts. The resulting improvements in tool life and performance have reduced machining time on main clutch components from 30 hours to 10.
“Our work with Kalitta Motorsports is a great example of how technology can improve the safety, reliability and performance of complex assemblies in automotive applications,” said Scott Reese, Executive Vice President, Product Development and Manufacturing Solutions at Autodesk. “Kalitta uses our software to create digital twins for its high performance racing components, which means our role is to help them capture and model data, then rapidly extract insights from that data to deliver better outcomes. We’re thrilled to be working with the champions at Kalitta to help improve their performance on and off the track.”
Bringing these designs in-house has allowed Kalitta Motorsports to reduce spend and improve performance and reliability on race day. During the DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals in addition to their presence on Langdon’s Top Fuel dragster Autodesk will be participating in the Kalitta Motorsports B2B event on Friday as well as hosting guests in the pit-side VIP hospitality Friday through Sunday.
This story was originally published on September 15, 2021. 
