NASCAR partners with Stratasys to 3D-print parts for Next Gen cars

All Next Gen cars, which began racing on the NASCAR circuit in 2022, feature 3D-printed parts.

3D printer builder Stratasys and its on-demand parts-printing division, Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, have teamed with NASCAR to produce the first-ever 3D-printed production parts to be installed in all Next Gen cars. (Next Gen, the chassis being raced in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series, replaces the Gen 6, used from 2013 to 2021.)

Stratasys Direct is printing a windshield air cockpit ventilation unit for the Next Gen car. The initial windshield air ducts were printed at Stratasys’ Belton, Texas, facility on the company’s H350 3D printer from High Yield PA11, a Stratasys engineering-grade polymer derived from sustainable castor oil. The parts were cleaned, finished, dyed, and shot-blasted on DyeMansion postprocessing equipment.

The NASCAR team also designed and 3D-printed an underside NACA duct—a low-profile inlet duct for engine cooling—at its R&D facility in Concord, N.C., on a Stratasys Fortus 450mc printer.

The additively manufactured Next Gen parts represent the culmination of nearly three years of planning, design, and development.

Stratasys Direct Manufacturing printed a windshield air cockpit ventilation unit for the Next Gen car.