In the high-stakes world of NASCAR, where championships are won in the margins of milliseconds, the “speed to track” is as critical as the speed on it. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, the team co-owned by legends Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty, has been integrating industrial 3D printing into the heart of their race shop. By partnering with BigRep and deploying two STUDIO systems, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB has transitioned from a reliance on external vendors to a high-cadence, in-house production model. This helps the team go from having raw components, to a complete car, in roughly four weeks.
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB competes under the Toyota Racing banner. It has three Toyota Camry XSE race cars built for the NASCAR Cup Series: the No. 43 driven by Erik Jones, the No. 42 piloted by John Hunter Nemechek, and the No. 84, raced part-time by Jimmie Johnson.
Breaking the Outsourcing Cycle
Before adopting large-format additive manufacturing, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB faced long lead times. Prototyping a single aerodynamic component or specialized fixture often meant waiting two to three weeks for an external supplier. In an interview with BigRep, Steven Sander, the Director of Aerodynamics at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, said, “Our cars are rebuilt weekly, and the performance margins are extremely small, so we need to prototype, iterate, and produce parts very quickly. That is where having in-house additive manufacturing becomes a real advantage.”
The club runs two BigRep STUDIO printers almost 24/7, producing fixtures and templates, as well as functional parts that go into the car. “For example, we print nose ducts for the front brakes, which are basically one-time-use parts and not practical to make in carbon, and we also print a large gear cooler plenum at the rear of the car,” Sanders said. “That component is far too big for a hobby printer, so we need an industrial, large-format system with accurate dimensional control and a big build volume.”
High-Performance Applications
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB utilizes engineering-grade filaments to produce end-use parts that survive the brutal environment of the Cup Series. One standout application is the gear-cooler plenum, a complex duct used to manage temperatures. Previously, sourcing this part externally cost roughly $2,000 per unit. By printing in-house with high-temperature materials, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB reduced the material cost to approximately $56 per unit.
“In motorsports, saving weight usually costs money,” Sanders added. “Here, we are saving weight and saving money at the same time. That is rare.”
The weight saving comes from having greater control over materials, wall thickness, orientation, and infill. With engineering support from BigRep, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB was able to send designs over, get slicing feedback, figure out which materials to use, and how to optimize the print. “That collaborative process is how we took the same gear cooler plenum from being heavier than the original carbon part to matching its weight,” Sanders said.
A 3D printed gear cooler plenum
To meet the demands of the track, the team uses specialized filaments, including HI-TEMP CF (Carbon Fiber reinforced) for heat resistance, PRO HT, and TPU for flexible applications. They also utilize water-soluble support material (BVOH) to create complex internal geometries that would be difficult to manufacture traditionally.
The Broader Automotive Context
The move by LEGACY MOTOR CLUB aligns with how major U.S. automakers, from Ford and GM to innovators like Rivian and Divergent, are now leveraging AM for more than just prototyping. While giants like Ford use 3D printing for components in high-performance models like the Mustang GTD, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s implementation shows how race teams use the technology to solve immediate engineering hurdles on a weekly basis.
Speed, Quality, and Cost Benefits
For LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, the transition to in-house industrial printing addresses speed, money, and quality. By using BigRep STUDIO, the team no longer has to sacrifice one for the others. Sanders explained that fabricating their own fixtures, templates, and more meant that the team could build high-quality cars consistently. Plus, they can prototype 3D printed car parts first instead of immediately machining a big metal piece. “That is where I see the sport heading,” Sanders concluded, “because new ideas come out of the shop every single day, and we are already doing things with 3D printing that I never would have thought were possible a few years ago.” To learn more, read the full interview with Steve Sanders here.
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*All Photo Credits: BigRep / LEGACY MOTOR CLUB