Learning On The Go
Students can race toward a motorsports career at Forsyth Tech
By Tom Gillispie
Cameron Hughes was working at a Terry Labonte auto dealership, but he wanted more.
He wanted a career in motorsports; he just had to figure out how to get it.
Now, Hughes, 34, is in the final semester of his first year in Forsyth Tech’s motorsports program. He says when he approached a NASCAR team and asked about pit-crew work, he was asked whether he’d ever worked on a short-track pit crew. When he said "no," he was sent on his way. That led him to Jason Myers’ pit crew in the Modified division at Bowman Gray Stadium, where he’s helped out since 2010.
"I’ve wanted to do it all my life," says Hughes, who was born in Greensboro but grew up in New Jersey. He moved back to North Carolina years ago. "In eighth grade, I saw ‘Days of Thunder’, and I was hooked." He was later drawn to the Jeff Gordon/Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 team, and his goal is to one day work for Hendrick.
Hughes, who currently works at O’Reilly Auto Parts in Kernersville, should graduate from Forsyth Tech’s two-year program in May 2014. His instructor is Randy Butner, 53, who has a two-year degree in applied science from Forsyth Tech. "I really wish they’d had a program like this when I was growing up," he says.
A 1978 graduate of West Forsyth, Butner began racing when he was 16. His uncle raced a dirt car at 311 Speedway in Pine Hall, and "it was convenient for me to race there," he says.
He’s done most of his racing in Modifieds the past several years at Bowman Gray and Ace Speedway in Altamahaw. He has "14 or 15" career wins at Bowman Gray since he started racing there in 1987. He’s also a two-time champion in Ace’s Modified division.
Despite his busy teaching schedule, Butner still races at Bowman Gray on Saturday nights throughout the summer. This means that while he and Hughes work together in the classroom during the school year, they’re opponents come race night.
Accelerated Learning
Butner says that Forsyth Tech’s new Transportation Center—which houses the motorsports classes—has been a blessing for the program.
A former strip mall on Patterson Avenue, the center has given the program much more space than it previously had on Forsyth Tech’s main campus.
Butner is also proud that Sprint Cup car owner Richard Childress, a six-time NASCAR champion car owner with the late Dale Earnhardt, has put his name on the program. He says that Childress called up one day and asked for a tour of the school’s motorsports facility. At the time, he had several Forsyth Tech graduates working for him and wanted to learn more about the race car technology program.
One thing led to another, and the program eventually became Richard Childress Race Car Technology at Forsyth Tech. Childress’ No. 31 race team also donated a Chevrolet that Jeff Burton raced on the Sprint Cup circuit, and Butner’s students work on it as practice.
The motorsports program currently requires 76 credit hours with prerequisites including English, math, PC literacy, oral communication, expository writing, and psychology. Butner says he’s seen a welcomed mix of students enrolled in the course; he’s taught several women and even a 68-year-old man.
He adds that many of his students have found motorsports-industry jobs that they hadn’t planned on. He likes to talk about the student who was proficient at a machine that uses water under pressure to cut metal. Richard Childress Racing decided to get one of these machines, and that student was hired to run it.
"We’re always satisfied when one of our students succeeds in the motorsports industry," he says. "We pride ourselves in the fact that we can take someone who has no racing experience and prepare him or her for a job in the racing industry."
Hughes, meanwhile, says he wants to work in the engine program of a Cup team—preferably one with No. 24 on the side. "If I’m lucky enough, I want to work for the best," he says.
Whether he ultimately gets there, a motorsports degree from Forsyth Tech is a great head start.
For more on Forsyth Tech's motorsports program, visit the department's web page.
___________________
WSSU’s motorsports management program
Forsyth Tech isn’t the only local higher-education institute with a motorsports program: Winston-Salem State recently began offering bachelor degrees in motorsports management. "It’s really the most exciting major I can think of," says Dr. Clay Harshaw, assistant professor and program coordinator. "There aren’t a lot of majors where you’re required to go to races."
WSSU’s program concentrates on two areas: motorsports operations and motorsports marketing. The students do fieldwork at racetracks and other venues while getting hands-on experience working with hospitality, marketing, sponsorships, public relations, track suppliers, and more. WSSU is currently the only four-year college in the country that offers a degree in motorsports management.
EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com TWITTER: EDITORatWORK
More entries from TARJ
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
EDITOR@WORK blog entries
Entries from The Dog Blog
More blog entries by Tom Gillispie
Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
No comments:
Post a Comment