November 12, 2012 - Student-built Engines Help Bring Home K&N Pro Series East Championship

Brand ambassador Ryan Gifford, the driver of the No. 2 NASCAR Tech/UTI Toyota, races with engines built by NASCAR Tech students.

‘Chosen by industry. Ready to work,’ is not just another tagline. It captures the spirit of Universal Technical Institute (UTI) students, instructors, and employees, and that spirit has transcended outside the confines of the NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech) facilities and onto NASCAR championship race teams. 

On Saturday, Nov. 3, UTI students and instructors rejoiced when a sixth–place finish by rookie Kyle Larson at Rockingham Speedway (Rockingham, N.C.) locked up the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Championship. The victory marks the first NASCAR touring championship for Rev Racing and NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity initiative.

While there is enough credit to go around, it’s sometimes the hardworking men and women in the garage that go unnoticed. It’s late at night and early in the morning when the sound of wrenches cranking and bits drilling echoes throughout the bay of the team garage. UTI Spec-Engine Program students and instructors are hard at work tuning the engines that made this championship possible.

“Who would have ever thought that our students would be building engines that actually beat some of the biggest names in racing,” said John Dodson, community/NASCAR team relations director for NASCAR Tech. “The program is off and running and we look forward to it getting bigger and better. It makes us proud to provide the top racing teams with skilled technicians who get the job done.”

In 2008, NASCAR Tech rolled out the Spec-Engine Program that awards students who have excellent grades, attendance and professionalism scores with the opportunity to join forces with race teams and work on the engines that make the high-speed spectacle a reality.  

In 2012, alone, more than 70 NASCAR Tech students experienced the Spec-Engine Program that was part of three victories. This contributed significantly to an overall winning percentage of 38.5 percent during the last two years. The engines these students and instructors have worked tirelessly to maintain have endured the pounding of the pavement and endless drafts, to the tune of 99 races without a single engine failure in 2012.

While students had the chance to experience the thrill of victory with Kyle Larson at the wheel, they also experienced working on the engine of the fully sponsored No. 2 NASCAR Tech/UTI Toyota driven by brand ambassador Ryan Gifford.

These victories and accomplishments are not the result a few individuals, but a collective group of dedicated and motivated students and instructors that truly make Mooresville, N.C., “Race City, USA.”

As NASCAR Tech celebrates 10 years of starting careers, it’s only fitting the occasion commences with the thrill of victory lane.

UTI and NASCAR Tech never take a break from providing deserving students with the opportunity to fulfill their dreams; but today is cause for celebration.

For more information about NASCAR Tech, please visit: www.uti.edu/partners/nascar.