Case Study: Germain Racing achieves rapid aerodynamic optimization and reduced drag with SimScale

Germain Racing radically improved the aerodynamics of their NASCAR race car using SimScale CFD

Germain Racing, an American Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team, needed to optimize their No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to meet the new 2019 NASCAR aerodynamic package and reduce drag for higher speed. To accelerate design iterations and avoid excessive wind tunnel time, Germain Racing adopted the SimScale cloud-based CFD simulation platform to visualize airflow, quantify drag and downforce, and compare design changes quickly.

Using SimScale (with Onshape CAD integration), the team ran high-fidelity CFD on a ~28 million-cell mesh on 96-core machines, with typical runtimes under 7 hours and multiple runs in parallel to simulate different incident angles. SimScale revealed local vortices, large recirculation zones and high-drag areas (rear spoiler, closed grill and wheel sections), enabling targeted changes that optimized downforce while reducing overall drag. The SimScale workflow cut what had been months of analysis down to a single day, delivering faster design decisions and measurable simulation results.

Germain Racing

Matt Borland

Crew Chief