On the high of a hill in a sprawling Santa Clarita industrial park within the shadow of Magic Mountain’s curler coasters, a major chapter within the historical past of motorsports was written.
However the story isn’t completed but.
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From the skin, the constructing is nothing particular. Behind its partitions, nonetheless, has designed, examined and constructed the engines which have gained 14 of the final 21 championships and all 5 IndyCar races this season. In , a race Honda has gained 15 occasions since 2004, 4 of the highest six starters may have Honda engines, together with two-time winner , who certified second.
It’s a degree of dominance unmatched in IndyCar historical past — in a collection Honda in all probability helped save.
A technician works on an engine at Honda Racing Company. All of Honda’s engines for North American racing collection are inbuilt Santa Clarita. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Occasions)
Amid the open-wheel civil conflict between Championship Auto Racing Groups and the Indy Racing League, Honda was ready to stroll away. , who began Honda Efficiency Improvement (earlier than it was renamed HRC in 2024) and made it a cutting-edge analysis and growth facility, satisfied American Honda president Koichi Amemiya to produce engines to IRL groups in 2003 after Honda left CART in 2002.
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“It simply was not Honda’s picture of what a race automotive needs to be. That’s why Honda initially didn’t need to be concerned,” Clarke stated. “In my dialogue with the president it was ‘OK, we developed all these expertise and know-how. Are we simply going to present that up and simply stroll away?’ That’s loopy.
”We invested actually billions of {dollars}. And we’ve seen the success.”
Chevrolet and Toyota finally did give up, leaving Honda as the one IndyCar engine producer for six seasons. Amemiya then doubled down, funding Honda’s transfer to its 123,000-square-foot house whereas increasing its workforce to 250 from an authentic workers of fewer than 10.
Honda hasn’t regarded within the rearview mirror since.
Clarke, 75, left Honda in 2008 although he’s nonetheless one thing of an government emeritus, one who wears the model on his sleeve and infrequently refers back to the firm with the collective pronoun “we.”
Robert Clarke, left, speaks to IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti at Mid-Ohio Race Course in July 2007. (Jay LaPrete / Related Press)
He was 10 when his father took him to his first race to look at a pal run in an newbie open-wheel occasion. When younger Robert was invited into the storage and allowed to work on the automotive “I used to be hooked,” he stated. “My bed room partitions have been lined with photos of Method One vehicles and every kind of racing.”
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He took the lengthy street to Honda racing, although, finding out structure and artwork/industrial design in faculty, then instructing for 5 years at Notre Dame. His first job at Honda was within the bike accent and product planning departments however when the corporate introduced it was going to enter open-wheel racing, Clarke volunteered and he was quickly tasked with constructing this system from the bottom up.
That was in 1993. By the point Clarke left Honda 15 years later, the corporate’s place as a significant pressure in IndyCar racing was safe and Honda’s two-story hilltop headquarters turned his legacy.
The focus of labor within the constructing now is primarily on supporting Honda groups in IndyCar and the . As such, it has change into a one-stop store for racing groups, housing complete engine analysis and growth operations; prototype and manufacturing components manufacturing; engine preparation and rebuilding; a materials evaluation amenities; greater than a half-dozen engine dynamometer take a look at cells; a machine store; electronics lab; components heart; a number of convention rooms; and administrative workplaces.
A view of the machine store on the on the Honda Racing Company in Santa Clarita. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Occasions)
Subsequent yr it can present help for Honda’s effort to produce Method One engines to Aston Martin.
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Largely the constructing is a maze of quiet workplace house the place engineers sketch out their designs on laptop screens, well-lit meeting bays the place mechanics assemble the prototypes, and the noisy high-tech dyno rooms the place these prototypes are examined. Each stage of a racing engine, from conception and building to being shipped to the monitor, is managed on the facility.
“We develop the expertise shortly,” stated David Salters, the British-born engineer who heads HRC. “We attempt them. Typically they work, typically they don’t work and also you attempt once more. The purpose of getting a racing facility inside your organization is you might be agile. You may attempt stuff. You may practice the individuals.
“The persons are an important factor of all this.”
The entire course of is extra NASA than NASCAR in that there’s not a speck of grease or oil on the brilliant, white vinyl flooring and everyone’s palms are clear.
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“This can be a world-class facility. It must be scientific {and professional} within the processes and programs we’ve right here,” stated Salters, who was head of engine growth for the Ferrari F1 crew and held an analogous place at Mercedes-Benz earlier than becoming a member of Honda a decade in the past.
“It’s like an working theater. We’re principally coping with engines or electrical programs, that are like jewellery. They can not tolerate dust or something like that. All the pieces must be spotless and clear and well-organized. That is aerospace.”
And when the engines don’t work, they’re introduced again to HRC and the engineering course of is repeated in reverse looking for flaws. As for why they’re doing all that in a sleepy bed room neighborhood higher recognized for its paved bike paths and rustic climbing trails than for its motorsports historical past, that’s straightforward: Location, location, location.
Clarke initially anticipated to recruit engineers from Indianapolis and Charlotte, N.C., the heartland of American racing, whereas Honda insisted on retaining its operations close to its company workplaces in Torrance. Clarke feared dropping individuals from the Midwest and South into L.A.’s traffic-clogged sprawl can be such a tradition shock, he’d lose his finest engineers.
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So he selected Santa Clarita, which was remoted sufficient to not really feel like L.A., however shut sufficient to Torrance to be accessible. And the constructing got here with an “Solely in L.A.” characteristic: It shares a driveway with the studio the place the favored TV collection “” is filmed.
“On occasion a helicopter will land within the automotive park and we’re all informed we will’t go exterior in case we get swept away,” Salters stated with a chuckle. “There was some ‘Star Trek’ factor the place they determined our lobby could possibly be helpful. So for a couple of weeks we had a film set in our lobby; we rented it out.
“You’ve acquired to have a look at enterprise alternatives.”
Adi Susilo, chief engineer of powertrain at Honda Racing Company, appears over giant displays earlier than the beginning of the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Occasions)
It’s early on a cold Saturday in March and HRC’s headquarters is generally empty save for one nook on the constructing’s second ground the place practically a dozen individuals, some carrying headphones, have gathered behind laptop screens going through six big TV displays.
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A continent away, in central Florida, greater than 50 vehicles are lined up for the . Every driver with a Honda engine has an engineer monitoring their automotive’s efficiency.
Earlier than the pandemic, engineers would journey and work with race groups on website. However for the final 4 years the engineers have been working largely at HRC, monitoring in-car telemetry that gives real-time details about the whole lot from engine standing and tire stress to suspension habits.
“Information is king,” stated Adi Susilo, one of many HRC engineers. “People make errors. Information hardly ever does.”
F1 groups have monitored telemetry remotely for years, but it surely didn’t change into widespread in IndyCar racing till 2023. Now it’s a significant a part of each main racing collection, together with NASCAR.
Powertrain chief engineer Adi Susilo appears at a full-size mock up of an IMSA prototype at Honda Racing Company. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Occasions)
Engineers work out of what appears like a school classroom, solely quieter. When the sound of a disembodied voice does cackle out of a headphone, it seems like NASA Mission Management, the tone flat and unemotional, the dialog brief and to the purpose.
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“It’s higher for fixing issues,” stated Susilo about working away from the monitor. “If there’s an issue, you simply stroll downstairs and speak to the man who constructed the engine.”
That gained’t be the case Sunday. For the Indy 500, Susilo stated it’s all palms on deck, so most of Honda’s race-day engineers are in Indianapolis the place the telemetry will likely be broadcast to their work stations in trailers on the monitor.
“Just a few of the IndyCar races are run that manner,” he stated, “however the 500 is sort of all the time run that manner simply because everybody’s out right here for the occasion. We’re additionally testing a brand new, hopefully extra strong, telemetry streaming because it’s a lot more durable to ensure we get 15 automotive’s price of information.”
At first, the thought of getting engineers looming electronically over the timing stand was a tough promote. Trusting somebody with clear fingernails watching the race on displays 1000’s of miles away wasn’t straightforward for some crew chiefs.
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“What occurs for individuals like me is that it’s a must to erase the old-school mind-set,” stated Mike Hull, a former mechanic and driver who’s now the managing director for Chip Ganassi Racing and chief strategist for driver , a six-time IndyCar champion. “You’re electronically shoulder to shoulder with them.
“If you happen to don’t take heed to what any person has to say, it stifles free considering. Free considering sends you down a path that you could be not have initially been on, however makes you stronger at what you’re doing.”
Race engines being assembled at Honda Racing Company. A technician within the HRC machine store works on an engine. Engineers monitor knowledge throughout the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. A engineer displays telemetry remotely from HRC headquarters. Robert Hanashiro / For the Occasions
Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 champion who will begin Sunday’s race within the second row, agrees. Which is he why he’s made a number of journeys to HRC to personally thank the engineers who design his engines and people who assist direct his races.
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“You all the time really feel like there’s a giant group behind you,” he stated. “You simply don’t get to see all them in a single place however you understand the machine is there, working fairly arduous.”
One disadvantage, Dixon stated, is it’s a must to watch out what you say on the radio throughout races since you by no means know who’s listening.
“Twenty individuals at house, simply on the crew facet, will likely be listening simply on that one automotive,” he stated. “So the communication could be very large open. You positively have to look at your Ps and Qs.”
Two years later race groups have grown so snug with individuals wanting over their shoulders, the engineers have change into as a lot part of the crew because the vehicles. So when a close-by wildfire compelled the evacuation of the constructing, Honda rented rooms at a close-by lodge, arrange their TVs, laptop displays and a espresso machine in a convention room and labored from there.
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“We’re fairly blind with out it. The race groups are fairly aggressive,” Susilo stated. “They really feel that intuition nonetheless does work. However it’s extra data-driven.”
Honda powertain engineer Jake Marthaler displays knowledge throughout the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Occasions)
Given the funding, the stress might be intense.
“Each two weeks we need to have the newest growth. We need to have made progress,” Salters stated. “Each two weeks you’ve got a deadline and the deadline doesn’t transfer. It’s not like they’re going to say ‘OK, we’ll simply delay the race every week.’ The flag drops, you’ve acquired to be prepared.
“It’s form of an engineering sport isn’t it? It’s like a real sport; one of the best crew will win.”
If the IndyCar-Honda marriage has largely been good for each side, it has just lately hit a rocky patch.
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Honda’s provide contract with IndyCar ends subsequent yr and the corporate hasn’t hid its distaste over the dishonest scandals which have just lately tarnished the collection. Final week Group Penske drivers , the two-time defending Indy 500 champion, and Will Energy have been compelled to the for the beginning of Sunday’s race after illegally modified components have been discovered on their vehicles. Group Penske, which makes use of Chevrolet engines, was additionally caught dishonest on the .
On Wednesday, the crew . IndyCar, which is owned by Roger Penske (additionally the proprietor of Group Penske) stated it is exploring the creation of an unbiased governing physique absent of Penske workers.
Scott Dixon drives into the primary flip throughout observe for the Indianapolis 500 on Friday. (Michael Conroy / Related Press)
That might not be sufficient to revive belief within the collection. Honda, which provides engines to 13 full-season IndyCar entries and three Indy 500-only vehicles, has declined to touch upon the principles violations, however confirmed its continued participation within the collection past 2026 might rely on Penske’s capability to separate himself from policing the collection he owns and in addition competes in.
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Honda stated in a written assertion Thursday that it has many considerations, amongst them “the comparatively excessive general price to take part as an engine provider” and “the potential (perceived or actual) battle of curiosity which can exist” with Penske’s possession of the racing collection, three of the vehicles competing within the collection and his “vital stake” in Ilmor Engineering, which designs and manufactures engines for Chevrolet, Honda’s greatest competitor.
“Honda continues to have ongoing negotiations with IndyCar’s administration and technical groups concerning our future as an engine provider for the collection,” stated Chuck Chayefsky, supervisor of Honda & Acura Motorsports.
No matter street Honda takes with IndyCar, it’s unlikely to alter a lot of the day-to-day work at HRC, which is closely concerned with IMSA and can quickly be engaged on F1 power-unit growth.
So whereas the vehicles might change, the racing won’t ever cease.
The automotive Ryan Hunter-Reay drove to victory for Andretti Autosport within the 2014 Indianapolis 500 sits on show at Honda Racing Company in Santa Clarita. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Occasions)
“Thirty years in the past our sole objective in life was to take care of racing in North America for Honda and Acura,” Salters stated earlier than final week’s occasions in Indianapolis. “Final yr we modified that. We’re now a part of a world racing group. That’s one other alternative for associates right here.”
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“The automotive world, it’s pivoting,” he continued. “We try some new stuff. We’ll see the way it goes.”
One chapter has been written. However the story isn’t completed.
This story initially appeared in .
