Latest news with #SantaClarita
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
An inside look at the control center behind Honda's IndyCar racing effort
Honda Racing Corporation engineer Jake Marthaler monitors telemetry remotely during the 12 Hours of Sebring sportscar race in March. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Times) At the top of a hill in a sprawling Santa Clarita industrial park in the shadow of Magic Mountain's roller coasters, a significant chapter in the history of motorsports was written. But the story isn't finished yet. Advertisement From the outside, the building is nothing special. Behind its walls, however, Honda Racing Corporation has designed, tested and built the engines that have won 14 of the last 21 IndyCar championships and all five IndyCar races this season. In Sunday's Indianapolis 500, a race Honda has won 15 times since 2004, four of the top six starters will have Honda engines, including two-time winner Takuma Sato, who qualified second. It's a level of dominance unmatched in IndyCar history — in a series Honda probably helped save. A technician works on an engine at Honda Racing Corporation. All of Honda's engines for North American racing series are built in Santa Clarita. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Times) Amid the open-wheel civil war between Championship Auto Racing Teams and the Indy Racing League, Honda was prepared to walk away. Robert Clarke, who started Honda Performance Development (before it was renamed HRC in 2024) and made it a cutting-edge research and development facility, convinced American Honda president Koichi Amemiya to supply engines to IRL teams in 2003 after Honda left CART in 2002. Advertisement 'It just was not Honda's image of what a race car should be. That's why Honda initially didn't want to be involved,' Clarke said. 'In my discussion with the president it was 'OK, we developed all these skills and know-how. Are we just going to give that up and just walk away?' That's crazy. 'We invested literally billions of dollars. And we've seen the success.' Chevrolet and Toyota eventually did quit, leaving Honda as the only IndyCar engine manufacturer for six seasons. Amemiya then doubled down, funding Honda's move to its 123,000-square-foot home while expanding its workforce to 250 from an original staff of fewer than 10. Honda hasn't looked in the rearview mirror since. Clarke, 75, left Honda in 2008 though he's still something of an executive emeritus, one who wears the brand on his sleeve and often refers to the company with the collective pronoun 'we.' Robert Clarke, left, speaks to IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti at Mid-Ohio Race Course in July 2007. (Jay LaPrete / Associated Press) He was 10 when his father took him to his first race to watch a friend run in an amateur open-wheel event. When young Robert was invited into the garage and allowed to work on the car 'I was hooked,' he said. 'My bedroom walls were covered with pictures of Formula One cars and all kinds of racing.' Advertisement He took the long road to Honda racing, though, studying architecture and art/industrial design in college, then teaching for five years at Notre Dame. His first job at Honda was in the motorcycle accessory and product planning departments but when the company announced it was going to enter open-wheel racing, Clarke volunteered and he was soon tasked with building the program from the ground up. That was in 1993. By the time Clarke left Honda 15 years later, the company's place as a major force in IndyCar racing was secure and Honda's two-story hilltop headquarters became his legacy. The focus of work in the building now is mainly on supporting Honda teams in IndyCar and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. As such, it has become a one-stop shop for racing teams, housing comprehensive engine research and development operations; prototype and production parts manufacturing; engine preparation and rebuilding; a material analysis facilities; more than a half-dozen engine dynamometer test cells; a machine shop; electronics lab; parts center; multiple conference rooms; and administrative offices. A view of the machine shop at the at the Honda Racing Corporation in Santa Clarita. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Times) Next year it will provide support for Honda's effort to supply Formula One engines to Aston Martin. Advertisement Mostly the building is a maze of quiet office space where engineers sketch out their designs on computer screens, well-lit assembly bays where mechanics assemble the prototypes, and the noisy high-tech dyno rooms where those prototypes are tested. Every stage of a racing engine, from conception and construction to being shipped to the track, is managed at the facility. 'We develop the technology quickly,' said David Salters, the British-born engineer who heads HRC. 'We try them. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't work and you try again. The point of having a racing facility inside your company is you can be agile. You can try stuff. You can train the people. 'The people are the most important thing of all this.' The whole process is more NASA than NASCAR in that there's not a speck of grease or oil on the bright, white vinyl flooring and everybody's hands are clean. Advertisement 'This is a world-class facility. It needs to be clinical and professional in the processes and systems we have here,' said Salters, who was head of engine development for the Ferrari F1 team and held a similar position at Mercedes-Benz before joining Honda a decade ago. 'It's like an operating theater. We're basically dealing with engines or electrical systems, which are like jewelry. They cannot tolerate dirt or anything like that. Everything has to be spotless and clean and well-organized. This is aerospace.' And when the engines don't work, they're brought back to HRC and the engineering process is repeated in reverse in search of flaws. As for why they're doing all that in a sleepy bedroom community better known for its paved bike paths and rustic hiking trails than for its motorsports history, that's easy: Location, location, location. Clarke originally expected to recruit engineers from Indianapolis and Charlotte, N.C., the heartland of American racing, while Honda insisted on keeping its operations near its corporate offices in Torrance. Clarke feared dropping people from the Midwest and South into L.A.'s traffic-clogged sprawl would be such a culture shock, he'd lose his best engineers. Advertisement So he chose Santa Clarita, which was isolated enough to not feel like L.A., but close enough to Torrance to be accessible. And the building came with an "Only in L.A." feature: It shares a driveway with the studio where the popular TV series 'NCIS' is filmed. 'Every so often a helicopter will land in the car park and we're all told we can't go outside in case we get swept away,' Salters said with a chuckle. 'There was some 'Star Trek' thing where they decided our foyer could be useful. So for a few weeks we had a movie set in our foyer; we rented it out. 'You've got to look at business opportunities.' Adi Susilo, chief engineer of powertrain at Honda Racing Corporation, looks over large monitors before the start of the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Times) It's early on a chilly Saturday in March and HRC's headquarters is mostly empty save for one corner on the building's second floor where nearly a dozen people, some wearing headphones, have gathered behind computer screens facing six giant TV monitors. Advertisement A continent away, in central Florida, more than 50 cars are lined up for the 12 hours of Sebring. Each driver with a Honda engine has an engineer monitoring their car's performance. Before the pandemic, engineers would travel and work with race teams on site. But for the last four years the engineers have been working mostly at HRC, monitoring in-car telemetry that provides real-time information about everything from engine status and tire pressure to suspension behavior. 'Data is king,' said Adi Susilo, one of the HRC engineers. 'Humans make mistakes. Data rarely does.' F1 teams have monitored telemetry remotely for years, but it didn't become common in IndyCar racing until 2023. Now it's a vital part of every major racing series, including NASCAR. Powertrain chief engineer Adi Susilo looks at a full-size mock up of an IMSA prototype at Honda Racing Corporation. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Times) Engineers work out of what looks like a college classroom, only quieter. When the sound of a disembodied voice does cackle out of a headphone, it sounds like NASA Mission Control, the tone flat and unemotional, the conversation short and to the point. Advertisement 'It's better for solving problems,' said Susilo about working away from the track. 'If there's a problem, you just walk downstairs and talk to the guy who built the engine.' That won't be the case Sunday. For the Indy 500, Susilo said it's all hands on deck, so most of Honda's race-day engineers are in Indianapolis where the telemetry will be broadcast to their work stations in trailers at the track. 'A few of the IndyCar races are run that way,' he said, 'but the 500 is almost always run that way just because everyone's out here for the event. We're also testing a new, hopefully more robust, telemetry streaming as it's much harder to make sure we get 15 car's worth of data.' At first, the idea of having engineers looming electronically over the timing stand was a hard sell. Trusting someone with clean fingernails watching the race on monitors thousands of miles away wasn't easy for some crew chiefs. Advertisement 'What happens for people like me is that you have to erase the old-school way of thinking,' said Mike Hull, a former mechanic and driver who is now the managing director for Chip Ganassi Racing and chief strategist for driver Scott Dixon, a six-time IndyCar champion. 'You're electronically shoulder to shoulder with them. 'If you don't listen to what somebody has to say, it stifles free thinking. Free thinking sends you down a path that you may not have originally been on, but makes you stronger at what you're doing.' Race engines being assembled at Honda Racing Corporation. A technician in the HRC machine shop works on an engine. Engineers monitor data during the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. A engineer monitors telemetry remotely from HRC headquarters. Robert Hanashiro / For the Times Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 champion who will start Sunday's race in the second row, agrees. Which is he why he's made several trips to HRC to personally thank the engineers who design his engines and those who help direct his races. Advertisement 'You always feel like there's a big group behind you,' he said. 'You just don't get to see all them in one place but you know the machine is there, working pretty hard.' One drawback, Dixon said, is you have to be careful what you say on the radio during races because you never know who's listening. 'Twenty people at home, just on the team side, will be listening just on that one car,' he said. 'So the communication is very wide open. You definitely have to watch your Ps and Qs.' Two years later race teams have grown so comfortable with people looking over their shoulders, the engineers have become as much a part of the team as the cars. So when a nearby wildfire forced the evacuation of the building, Honda rented rooms at a nearby hotel, set up their TVs, computer monitors and a coffee machine in a conference room and worked from there. Advertisement 'We're pretty blind without it. The race teams are pretty competitive,' Susilo said. 'They feel that instinct still does work. But it's more data-driven.' Honda powertain engineer Jake Marthaler monitors data during the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Times) Given the investment, the pressure can be intense. 'Every two weeks we want to have the latest development. We want to have made progress,' Salters said. 'Every two weeks you have a deadline and the deadline does not move. It's not like they're going to say 'OK, we'll just delay the race a week.' The flag drops, you've got to be ready. 'It's sort of an engineering sport isn't it? It's like a true sport; the best team will win.' If the IndyCar-Honda marriage has mostly been good for both sides, it has recently hit a rocky patch. Advertisement Honda's supply contract with IndyCar ends next year and the company hasn't hid its distaste over the cheating scandals that have recently tarnished the series. Last week Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden, the two-time defending Indy 500 champion, and Will Power were forced to the back of the field for the start of Sunday's race after illegally modified parts were found on their cars. Team Penske, which uses Chevrolet engines, was also caught cheating at the beginning of the 2024 season. On Wednesday, the team fired three of its top racing executives. IndyCar, which is owned by Roger Penske (also the owner of Team Penske) said it is exploring the creation of an independent governing body absent of Penske employees. Scott Dixon drives into the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 on Friday. (Michael Conroy / Associated Press) That may not be enough to restore trust in the series. Honda, which supplies engines to 13 full-season IndyCar entries and three Indy 500-only cars, has declined to comment on the rules violations, but confirmed its continued participation in the series beyond 2026 may depend on Penske's ability to separate himself from policing the series he owns and also competes in. Advertisement Honda said in a written statement Thursday that it has many concerns, among them 'the relatively high overall cost to participate as an engine supplier' and 'the potential (perceived or real) conflict of interest which may exist' with Penske's ownership of the racing series, three of the cars competing in the series and his 'significant stake' in Ilmor Engineering, which designs and manufactures engines for Chevrolet, Honda's biggest competitor. 'Honda continues to have ongoing negotiations with IndyCar's management and technical teams regarding our future as an engine supplier for the series,' said Chuck Chayefsky, manager of Honda & Acura Motorsports. Whatever road Honda takes with IndyCar, it's unlikely to change most of the day-to-day work at HRC, which is heavily involved with IMSA and will soon be working on F1 power-unit development. So while the cars may change, the racing will never stop. The car Ryan Hunter-Reay drove to victory for Andretti Autosport in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 sits on display at Honda Racing Corporation in Santa Clarita. (Robert Hanashiro / For the Times) 'Thirty years ago our sole purpose in life was to look after racing in North America for Honda and Acura,' Salters said before last week's events in Indianapolis. 'Last year we changed that. We're now part of a global racing organization. That's another opportunity for associates here.' Advertisement 'The automotive world, it's pivoting,' he continued. 'We are trying some new stuff. We'll see how it goes.' One chapter has been written. But the story isn't finished. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
CBS News
21-05-2025
- CBS News
LA County deputies arrest juvenile connected to fireworks explosions in Santa Clarita
Los Angeles County deputies arrested a juvenile connected to the constant fireworks explosions that have frustrated Santa Clarita neighbors. The juvenile was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Arson/Explosives Detail. Santa Clarita neighbors said they have called 911 dozens of times over the last five years because of the fireworks, but have not seen any action from law enforcement until now. Lilly Chiang's security cameras have captured nearly 100 instances of people setting off illegal fireworks at all hours of the night. She says that they even happen more frequently around the holidays. "Between five to 20 at a time, and then they will just come to the park," she said. "We've seen them during the daytime, latest out here like, two or three o'clock in the morning." With the Fourth of July around the corner and the January wildfires still top of mind for many across Southern California, Chiang is one of many taking the issue to city leaders. Chiang's neighbor, James Kilton, addressed the council at their latest meeting, expressing his fears that the activity could create a disaster. "I am not talking about smoke bombs and Piccolo Petes, I am talking about mortars that are launched off at 1 a.m. and the explosions are loud enough to wake up the community," he said during the meeting. Since then, when Chiang, Kilton and others met with the Mayor, they've noticed more patrols in the area, but they're still worried about the dry summer season incoming. "Please stop," she said, issuing a plea to the people who continue to use the space behind their home for the illegal pyrotechnics shows. "Stop this whole nonsense. You know this is something is so dangerous. ... This is not just a firework for Independence Day, this can really hurt and destroy people."
CBS News
20-05-2025
- CBS News
Off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy killed in multi-car crash in Santa Clarita identified
The 21-year-old off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy who was killed in a multi-car crash in Santa Clarita has been identified as Deputy Daniel V. Chavira, authorities say. Chavira died after being airlifted from a three-car crash on San Francisquito Canyon Road south of Dry Gulch, Saugus, the California Highway Patrol said. Four other people were taken to the hospital by ambulance. Deputy Daniel V. Chavira joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in May 2024 and was assigned to the North County Correctional Facility. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The sheriff's department said that Chavira joined the department in May 2024, after graduating from Academy Class 476 and was assigned to the North County Correctional Facility. "He is survived by his father Rodrigo Valencia, his two brothers, Rodrigo Valencia and Deputy Rene Valencia-Chavira, who works at Lancaster Station, and his wife Deputy Crystal Valencia, who works at San Fernando Court," the sheriff's department said. "His sister Detective Nancy Alcaraz and her husband, Deputy Martin Alcaraz, who both work at Palmdale Station." It is unclear how the crash occurred, and the CHP is continuing to investigate the incident. "We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our own, who was taken from us far too soon," said Sheriff Robert Luna in a statement. "Our Deputy dedicated his life to the service and safety of others, both in and out of uniform. His commitment to public safety was not just a job—it was who he was. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and all who knew him." A procession was held for Chavira Monday night in Santa Clarita. Several agencies lined the streets, paying their respects to the fallen deputy.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sundar Narayanan to Serve as NewHydrogen Director of Process Engineering
Santa Clarita, California, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NewHydrogen, Inc. (OTCQB:NEWH), the developer of ThermoLoop™, a breakthrough technology that uses water and heat rather than renewable electricity to produce the world's cheapest green hydrogen, today announced the appointment of Sundar Narayanan as Director of Process Engineering. With over 35 years of experience in process development, scale-up, and commercialization, Mr. Narayanan brings deep expertise in chemical process design and innovation. His career spans leadership roles at major institutions including ExxonMobil Research & Engineering and Aspen Technology, where he spearheaded energy efficiency improvements, developed and implemented automated process monitoring systems, and provided technical direction for integrating advanced technologies such as molten carbonate fuel cells. 'Few engineers possess Sundar's level of practical and technical depth in process development and systems integration,' said Steve Hill, CEO of NewHydrogen. 'His experience evaluating, adapting, and commercializing novel technologies aligns perfectly with our mission to deliver the world's cheapest green hydrogen.' 'I'm excited to join the talented team at NewHydrogen and help advance a truly game-changing technology,' said Narayanan. 'Scaling up ThermoLoop™ is a unique opportunity to apply decades of process engineering knowledge to accelerate the transition to clean, cost-effective hydrogen.' Mr. Narayanan has been a key contributor to several high-impact publications and patents in energy efficiency and emissions reduction, and he continues to consult with cleantech innovators like C-Zero. He holds a in Chemical Engineering from the University of Madras and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Akron. At NewHydrogen, Mr. Narayanan will play a central role in refining and scaling the company's ThermoLoop™ technology as it moves toward pilot deployment. To learn more about NewHydrogen's work with leading scientists at UC Santa Barbara to develop the world's cheapest green hydrogen, please visit About NewHydrogen, Inc. NewHydrogen is developing ThermoLoop™ – a breakthrough technology that uses water and heat rather than electricity to produce the world's lowest cost green hydrogen. Hydrogen is the cleanest and most abundant element in the universe, and we can't live without it. Hydrogen is the key ingredient in making fertilizers needed to grow food for the world. It is also used for transportation, refining oil and making steel, glass, pharmaceuticals and more. Nearly all the hydrogen today is made from hydrocarbons like coal, oil, and natural gas, which are dirty and limited resources. Water, on the other hand, is an infinite and renewable worldwide resource. Currently, the most common method of making green hydrogen is to split water into oxygen and hydrogen with an electrolyzer using green electricity produced from solar or wind. However, green electricity is and always will be very expensive. It currently accounts for 73% of the cost of green hydrogen. By using heat directly, we can skip the expensive process of making electricity, and fundamentally lower the cost of green hydrogen. Inexpensive heat can be obtained from concentrated solar, geothermal, nuclear reactors and industrial waste heat for use in our novel low-cost thermochemical water splitting process. Working with a world class research team at UC Santa Barbara, our goal is to help usher in the green hydrogen economy that Goldman Sachs estimated to have a future market value of $12 trillion. Safe Harbor Statement Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: the impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the Company and its operations, markets, the impact on the national and local economies resulting from terrorist actions, the impact of public health epidemics on the global economy and other factors detailed in reports filed by the Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Investor Relations Contact: NewHydrogen, in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CBS News
18-05-2025
- CBS News
Santa Clarita residents fed up with constant fireworks explosions behind their homes
Some Santa Clarita residents are fed up after years of constant fireworks explosions behind their homes, something that they worry could spark a much more series issue. Lilly Chiang's security cameras have captured nearly 100 instances of people setting off illegal fireworks at all hours of the night. She says that they even happen more frequently around the holidays. "Between five to 20 at a time, and then they will just come to the park." she said. "We've seen them during the daytime latest out here like, two or three o'clock in the morning." With the Fourth of July around the corner, and the January wildfires still top of mind for so many across Southern California, Chiang is one of many taking the issue to city leaders. They've called 911 to report the illegal activity dozens of times over the last five years, but no action has so far been taken. Chiang's neighbor James Kilton spoke to the council at their latest meeting, expressing his fears that the activity could create disaster. "I am not talking about smoke bombs and Piccolo Petes, I am talking about mortars that are launched off at 1 a.m. and the explosions are loud enough to wake up the community," he said during the meeting. Since then, when Chiang, Kilton and others met with the Mayor, they've noticed more patrols in the area, but they're still worried with the dry summer season incoming. "Please stop," she said, issuing a plea to the people who continue to use the space behind their home for the illegal pyrotechnics shows. "Stop this whole nonsense. You know this is something is so dangerous. ... This is not just a firework for Independence Day, this can really hurt and destroy people." Neither the ayor's office nor Santa Clarita Sheriff's Department officials were available upon request for comment from KCAL News.
