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UNOH - A RACER’S DREAM |
Many
schools of higher learning provide stadiums and arenas
for their student/athletes to hone their skills for
careers after college; yet one would be hard-pressed to
find a university that own and operate its own race
track to afford its student/athletes the opportunity
pursue their dream in the racing industry. The
University of Northwestern Ohio’s Limaland Motorsports
Park is a quarter of a mile high-banked dirt track where
students can race cars built by them in the university
shops. UNOH also sponsors NASCAR events and a driver in
every race it sponsors.
Recently, the K&N Pro Series East race at the famed
Martinsville Speedway and driver Eddie MacDonald carried
the university’s banner for the UNOH Performance 200.
President Jeff Jarvis is proud of the schools’ heritage
and involvement in auto racing saying, “In 1890, the
Lima Business School opened in downtown Lima and by
1970, we became the first automotive school in Ohio. In
1991, we became the first in the nation to offer a High
Performance Motorsports program. Since then we have
grown to be involved with, like today, the K&N Series
and the Modified Series with four students assigned to
each pit crews. It’s great for the students because they
get hands-on experience sitting beside the professional.
It is sort of an apprentice type situation that helps
them further their career when they move on and get a
job as a pit crew member, driver, owner, or whatever
their passion may be.”
The university was looking for a driver to sponsor for
the race and NASCAR pointed them in the direction of
Eddie MacDonald with Steve Farmer, Vice President of
Development at UNOH, saying, “We met and struck a deal
with the team then had Eddie visit the school a few
weeks before the race. We took him on a tour; then had a
press conference with him. He is a great young man and
we are proud to have our name on the car.”
Farmer explained why it is so important for the school
to sponsor a car in the race saying, “We are the only
school in the United States that has students on
motorsport teams that are considered
scholarship/athletes. Students are awarded scholarships
as part of their tuition. To participate on a team, they
all try out for those positions. Eight of those kids out
of thirty that we have will actually be assigned with
four going to Eddie and four going to the Modified
driven by Todd Szegedy in the companion race. The
students are actually NASCAR licensed crew members and
are able to provide over the wall services. It is a
pretty neat deal for them.”
Despite a disappointing afternoon on the track when
tire problems knocked the UNOH/Grimm Construction Chevy
from second place, MacDonald expressed his thanks for
the university’s support saying, “The entire school
community has been great to us. Steve Farmer and Dr.
Jarvis really extended themselves to us. I visited the
school a few weeks ago and I was definitely impressed.
If you want to learn about high performance engines,
that is the place to be. They have everything you need
to be successful including their own race track. How
cool is that? The four kids working with us were well
prepared and very professional the way they handled
themselves. Plus, I think they learned some valuable
life lessons about never giving up. We had a fast car
but a flat right front messed things up but the crew
went to work to replace the sway bar to get us back on
the track. We made a number of pit stops but we kept
going. We could have just parked it for the day but that
is not what we are about. I hope the kids saw that and
realize what is important is that you don’t give up. We
hope to be involved with the university again. They are
a class act and I feel like we owe them one.”
Dr. Jarvis also pointed out the school’s involvement
throughout racing saying, “We have graduates on Cup
teams, IRL, and NHRA. We cover the complete gambit of
motorsports from grassroots racing at a local track all
the way up to NASCAR. So it is a pretty intensive
program. The student’s race at Limaland in stock cars
and modifieds they built every Friday night during the
race season. They also race down at Eldora Speedway. We
race at Volusia during Speedweek every year. We have
over fifty students involved with ARCA at Daytona on pit
crews. We are also involved with Bristol Motor Speedway
and Charlotte Motor Speedway for the All-Star race, the
Coca Cola 600, the Late Model race and the Chase race.
It is a great opportunity for the kids. The school
continues to grow and we are proud to say we’ve had
students from all fifty states and sixteen foreign
countries”
“Student population has increased dramatically going
from 2800 in 2005 to a little over 4600 with our fall
start this year,” said Steve Farmer. “We are the only
university in the country where you can get a two or
four year degree in High Performance Motorsports. We are
a complete university with College and Business all the
through MBA programs. Our College of Technology consists
of High Performance Automotive, Diesel, Heating,
Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Alternative Fuels. We
are rolling out a new curriculum this year, a Sports
Management Program which we are very excited about.”
Farmer spoke of UNOH’s future involvement in racing
saying, “We will almost always have a car in any race we
sponsor, and I can assure you. We are probably looking
down the road at some ARCA events to do some things
there. Obviously we would like to continue our
relationship with Eddie and Todd.”
Dr. Jarvis concluded saying, “Eddie is a great young
man and very personable. I observed him when he was at
the University for the visitation day and interacting
with our students. We could not have chosen a better
young man to be there to mentor our students. I think he
inspired them and pushed their goals a little farther,
so we are excited about having Eddie as our driver. Even
if winning doesn’t happen, the experience and
opportunity our students have had is worth all of it.”
MacDonald summed up his experience with UNOH saying, “I
can’t thank them enough for everything UNOH did for us.
We had a fantastic time here and at the university
thanks to them. The students are awesome and I know they
will be successful because of what the school is
providing. We hope to be involved with UNOH in the
future and hopefully give them a better finish.
Regardless, I could not have asked for a better
sponsor.”
The
University of Northwestern Ohio -
Motorsports College Web |
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