“The Next Gen Cup car is an important milestone for NASCAR, offering teams a new platform employing modern technology and a focus on reduced running costs, whilst retaining the key essence of Stock Car racing”, says Xtrac’s Chief Executive Officer Adrian Moore.

Xtrac has been fully immersed in the NASCAR market since first supplying gearbox internals in 2002, followed by rear end bevel gears (ring and pinions), prior to opening a dedicated technical support office in the heart of the NASCAR community in Mooresville, North Carolina in 2010. “Having our own dedicated local engineering support facility to provide the very best customer service and to help develop the performance of our products, was essential to service this demanding market” remarks Moore.

The Next Gen program is a new chapter for both NASCAR and Xtrac as we expand our local operation to 12,000 sq.ft, housing a large build shop and service facility, non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment, rigs for post rebuild validation, along with spares supply and technical support. As well as the expanded facility, the creation of new jobs for skilled and experienced technicians is a vital part of Xtrac’s investment into this program.

Xtrac’s Next Gen P1334 transmission is a rear mounted, longitudinal, 5-speed manual sequential transaxle, fitted with an externally adjustable gas-charged positive pre-load differential. With the gearbox being a controlled unit, NASCAR specified that durability and reliability be prioritised, but without compromising on the NextGen car’s performance.

With such a large variety of tracks on the NASCAR schedule, the primary focus of the design was to minimise ratio options for the teams, whilst enabling trackside adjustments to overall gearing via input drop gears. These input drop gears give NASCAR the flexibility to mandate ratios to manage engine rpm with any tyre or aero changes that may be implemented to provide the best racing.

Oval racing is synonymous with NASCAR, hence the P1334 transmission features dual oil scavenge pick-ups to ensure that under extreme g-forces the semi-dry sump oil system maintains pressurised oil flow directly to the engaged gears and bearings. The oil system was developed using Xtrac’s advanced simulation tools, which were then validated using flow visualisation, and finally gimbal testing on our automated rig in the UK.

The P1334 has completed rig testing at Xtrac, as well as in-car track testing and extensive durability testing on OEM loaded dynos; one primarily focusing to road course simulation, and the second focusing on the harsh duty cycle seen at Martinsville.

Paul Barton, Xtrac’s Senior Commercial Engineering Manager who heads up Xtrac’s NASCAR program and the Mooresville facility said, “Xtrac is extremely proud to be selected to continue to support the series and our customers with our new gearbox and look forward to the Next Gen car racing next season.  All of the staff at Xtrac in the USA and in the UK would like to thank NASCAR for selecting Xtrac as the controlled transmission supplier for the exciting Next Gen future”