There are also classes that relate to the bodies and chassis of race cars. The courses are: Introduction to the High-Performance Field, High-Performance Welding, Operation of Oxyacetylene/Plasma Cutter Equipment, High-Performance Shop Practice, and High-Performance Chassis Analysis.
A student can learn to become an auto and/or truck mechanic or auto body repair specialist as a base employment while also learning the special skills needed to build and maintain race cars. Most race teams are part-time endeavors. As such, the team members work in other "day" jobs. Many of those jobs involve working with production automobiles and trucks. Nashville Auto-Diesel College provides the training to prepare a racer for his/her desired profession related to auto and/or truck repair.
Greenville Technical College, Greenville, South Carolina
Ken Williams, the motorsports industry liaison to this college, has been enthusiastically promoting the new Motorsports program at the school. Andrew Bolen is the lead instructor and will head up the faculty of teachers who include well-known industry professionals who come in and lecture and instruct the students.
The first classes began in 2003 and included a 10-week Motorsports 101 "Hands-On" course. The courses include Motorsports Basics, Welding, Frame Fabrication and Machine Tools, Sheet Metal Fabrication and Composites, Fasteners, Wiring and Plumbing, Chassis Dynamics, Engine and Drivetrain Assembly, and Dyno Testing and Data Acquisition.
Far-reaching goals of the school are to develop curriculum for motorsports, introduction of new courses on motorsports technologies and automotive systems, establishing hands-on laboratories with experiments and design projects, and the creation of resource kits for K-12 teachers to help introduce the programs to high school students.
They also want to help create motorsports and high-performance industry internships, and host an annual motorsports skills conference to meet educational needs and professional development opportunities. They hope that their efforts will improve the transfer of technology by utilizing web-based lectures thereby providing distance education. There will be continuing education workshops for faculty and students in the future.
Although this group has a lot of planning and hard work ahead of it, the approach is nonetheless well thought out and due to the demand for motorsports-related institutions.
Overview The schools listed, as well as many other institutions across our country and in other countries, are providing needed courses of study that will serve this growing industry. With students earning certificates of learning, diplomas and degrees in Motorsports Technology, our industry is well on its way to rising up to its rightful place among the many high-tech fields now available as careers.
In our research, we have found the motorsports education runs deeper. Several high school racing programs, soon to be featured in Circle Track, represent a significant beginning of a movement to capture interest in motorsports. This will enable even earlier training for motorsports-minded students. As the sport grows, we will be right on top of the technological advancements and expansion of learning opportunities related to circle track racing.