CAD CAM News

Penske Racing Team uses PTC Software to Stay at the Front of Indy Racing League

NEEDHAM, Mass - PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), The Product Development Company®, today announced that Penske Racing, whose cars are designed and developed with the help of PTC’s industry-leading Pro/ENGINEER technology, has claimed victory at the IRL IndyCar Series’ 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500® held on Sunday, May 24, 2009. Helio Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda alongside his teammates Will Power and Ryan Briscoe, captured his third Indy 500 title. Earlier in the month, Castroneves had also won the PEAK Performance Pole Position for the Indy 500.

The pressure to find a competitive edge in racing is intense, with the slightest design modification capable of shaving crucial seconds off a driver’s lap time. PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER, a leader in 3D product design, features industry-leading productivity tools that help Penske Racing stay ahead of the competitive curve. The integrated 3D CAD/CAM/CAE capabilities of Pro/ENGINEER allow for faster design processes with a complete suite of applications spanning concept to manufacturing.

PTC software is used by Penske Racing and Penske Technology Group in all aspects of race car design, engineering, testing, and manufacturing and directly contributed to Team Penske's victory at the 2009 Indianapolis 500. Pro/ENGINEER is utilized to design and create stereolithography (SLA) prototype parts that are then tested in Penske Technology Group’s scale wind tunnel prior to manufacturing full scale parts for the race cars. PTC Pro/ENGINEER is the common design thread that runs throughout the Penske Racing organization in terms of design, modeling, testing, and manufacturing.

“We use PTC Pro/ENGINEER as the standard for the Team Penske race cars because it enables us to design, test, and deliver to the track, a competitive IndyCar racecar under the challenging constraints of the IndyCar series,” said Tim Cindric, President, Penske Racing. “PTC provides Penske Racing and Penske Technology Group with powerful, integrated 3D design and development software that allows our engineers to develop everything from concept to manufacturing within one solution. We look forward to continuing our work with PTC solutions.”

According to Team Penske (IndyCar Series team) Technical Director, Ron Ruzewski, “Pro/ENGINEER allows us to design, prototype and test in a virtual world before we ever produce a part. This gives us the confidence to produce parts quickly in our ever changing competitive environment. Pro/ENGINEER allows us to develop, design and quickly integrate with manufacturing components that are pivotal in our success on the track. The powerful simulation and virtual prototyping capabilities of Pro/ENGINEER allow us to literally stay at the front of our competitors.”

Tim Cindric, continued, “We at Penske Racing thank PTC for their commitment to the team and for continuing to provide cutting-edge software and technology that helps keep us running at the front in the IndyCar Series. It was a great win for Team Penske and Helio on Sunday. We treasure all of our wins at the Indianapolis 500, but this one was definitely special for everyone on the team."

"PTC congratulates Helio Castroneves’ team on its Indianapolis 500 victory,” said Michael Campbell, senior vice president product management, PTC. “Penske’s use of PTC solutions for development and optimization of their Indy race car is just another example of how valuable the use of PTC technology can be to helping racing teams exact valuable performance improvements. We’re pleased that Penske Racing was able to achieve this victory with a car designed and developed with Pro/ENGINEER.”

From the IndyCar Series to NASCAR to America's Cup sailing, the world's best performance teams use PTC solutions to support their advanced and demanding design, development and manufacturing projects.