Ford Gives Clemson $300,000 a year for Motorsports Engineering Program

09/03/96

Associated Press reported that Ford Motor Company has agreed to give Clemson's 18 month-old motorsports engineering program $300,000 a year for the next two years.

Clemson's motorsports engineering program started a year and a half ago with just five graduate students. Jim Kasprzak, head of the program says the program has more than doubled in size, as this year it has 12 students. The idea and seed money for the program came from Robert H. Brooks, owner of the Hooters Restaurant chain.

One of the program's challenges has been to get the NASCAR world and the university world to talk to each other. The obstacle is not minor, and Kasprzak points out that Clemson's new motorsports engineering program is one of a kind in the U.S. The program's unique position exemplifies the difficulties involved in bringing the racetrack to the university: "I've been in the industry for 20 years and there's no program where you can get motorsports engineering experience while going to school," Kasprzak said. "It's always been a struggle how to get the experience and the exposure."

There are also difficulties involved in bringing the university to the racetrack. The grease-monkey garage mechanic who hammered his way to racing success is an integral part of NASCAR's image, although Kasprzak points out that that's changing: "that may be what people think, but it's changing. Things like finite element analysis are coming into NASCAR racing quite a bit."

Kasprzak said it took some time for those in NASCAR garages to interact with students. "The attitude is `You're a university coming into a racing setting.' They think, `What does a university know?'"

Clemson student Shane Martin from the program has been working with Junie Dunleavey Jr.'s Ford Thunderbird team at Daytona. Kasprzak related that Martin would wire up the car for aerodynamic testing and report results to crew chief Freddy Fryar, to a less than enthusiastic response. But Martin, who's working on a master's degree in mechanical engineering, also found other important factors that interested Fryar, like speed in the backstretch.

"After a while, the crew would wait for the data that Shane had," said Kasprzak. "We're learning how to communicate with NASCAR racing crews."

As part of its support for the program, Ford will also open the door for Clemson engineering students to work with some of its leading Winston Cup teams. Students have in past been involved in NASCAR track tests at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of The Brickyard 400 race.

Dan Rivard, head of Ford's worldwide racing program said, "this program supports Ford's view of motorsports as a great opportunity for our future corporate leaders to maximize their learning curves."

The program has also placed students in positions in racing. Alumni Greg Erwin is now team engineer with the Diamond Ridge Motorsports Winston Cup team. In the motorsports program, Erwin designed a computer model that simulates various changes to cars.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel