November 20, 2012 - Former NASCAR Official’s Legacy Lives On in Scholarship
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UTI Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarship recipient Brittany Weschenfelder and brother Gerry pose for a photo with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series officials Jamie Dipietro and Yvonne Pittman. {Photo Credit: NASCAR} |
By Kimberly Hyde, Special to NASCAR.COM
Brittany Weschenfelder has enjoyed a love of cars and racing for as long as she can remember.
“I’ve always been interested in automotive since I was little,” said Weschenfelder of San Antonio, Texas.
“Growing up my family didn’t have a lot of money, so we would work on the cars ourselves.”
As a youngster, Weschenfelder loved to help her dad and grandfather fix the family cars.
She put those wrenching skills to a real test at age sixteen when her grandfather died and left her his 1984 Dodge Rampage that wasn’t running.
“I rebuilt the carburetor myself and started getting it back to where it would actually drive down the street,” explained Weschenfelder. “Even now I continue to tinker with the Rampage and use the vehicle daily.”
Since moving out on her own four years ago, Weschenfelder, 22, has worked as a waitress, fast food clerk, business assistant, and on a cleaning crew, often working two to three jobs a day to make ends meet.
“I struggled with finding my life’s purpose,” said Weschenfelder. “But at the recommendation of my uncle, I researched Universal Technical Institute and discovered a field that fits me and that I fit in.”
That field, of course, is automotive repair. And Weschenfelder’s journey to a promising career is unfolding at Universal Technical Institute (UTI) – Houston campus where she’s a student receiving the training necessary to excel as an entry-level automotive service technician.
Better yet, she’s found her life’s career ambition.
“I’ve learned I have a knack for figuring out what is wrong with cars and identifying immediate fixes that extend use until a proper fix can be implemented,” said Weschenfelder.
Her favorite classes, she says, are Undercar, Powertrain and Brakes.
“Taking apart a transmission is really cool, and brakes are so much fun to take apart and put back together,” said Weschenfelder. “The UTI instructors are great. If you have any kind of question they have no problem sharing every bit of their knowledge.”
In search of financial assistance last December, under the guidance of a school admissions counselor and furthered by a close friend’s advice, Weschenfelder was encouraged to apply for a UTI Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarship.
“I have a friend who wants to open an auto repair shop and have me work for him,” explained Weschenfelder. “He told me ‘just to apply for it, what will it hurt? The worst is you won’t get it, the best is, of course, you will.’ That’s what really got me to apply for it.”
That proved to be sound advice. Earlier this year, Weschenfelder was named a recipient of a $10,000 UTI Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarship.
Brienne Davis was a very talented NASCAR Sprint Cup Series official who could turn wrenches and inspect engines with proficiency alongside her male counterparts in the garage.
Although her untimely passing in an automobile accident on April 8, 2008 cut short a promising career, her legacy lives on in the UTI Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarship Fund – a scholarship established by NASCAR officials in 2008 to encourage women to seek careers in the automotive industry.
The scholarship program provides an opportunity for qualified female students who wish to attend one of eleven UTI campuses across the U.S., including UTI's NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C.
Like Weschenfelder, Davis, a Louisiana native, also attended UTI – Houston and graduated at the top of her class in 2001. She blazed a unique career path into the sport first working at Dale Earnhardt Inc. as an engine builder before joining NASCAR as an official and inspector in 2004.
In the competitive field of motorsports, Davis had a leg up on the competition in the form of UTI’s automotive technology training program that included six weeks of a NASCAR-approved curriculum on racing.
That, and drive.
Davis was proof that with determination and persistence anything is possible in today's NASCAR and automotive fields for females.
Eleven years later, Weschenfelder follows in her footsteps on the UTI – Houston campus.
“I feel very blessed to be able to get a scholarship in memory of someone who had a real passion for automotive like me,” said Weschenfelder.
Since 2008, NASCAR officials and the NASCAR industry have held fundraisers in the form of golf tournaments and Jail & Bail charity events to benefit the UTI Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarship Fund to help a new generation of young women further their education.
And with the successful completion of an automotive training program, there's never been a better time to encourage women to enter the automotive career field. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of automotive technicians will increase 14 percent by 2016.
“Since establishing the fund in 2008, we’ve seen many young women who have received scholarships go on to careers in automotive and racing,” said NASCAR official John Sacco. “We’re seeing these young women becoming employed at places like Cummins Diesel, Roush Yates Racing Engines, Champion Tire & Wheel and automotive shops around the country. It makes us all very proud.”
Beginning in 2013, a total of four UTI Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarships valuing $10,000 each will be awarded to four aspiring young women who wish to attend a UTI school of their choice. By the close of the program in 2023, the Brienne Davis Scholarship Fund will have awarded a total of fifty scholarships.
Year after year, scholarship recipients continue to emulate the same passion for everything automotive that Davis demonstrated during her NASCAR career.
“We are grateful to the NASCAR family for making these scholarships possible,” said Veronica Meury, vice president and executive director of the UTI Foundation. "Brienne's accomplishments are an inspiration for all. This scholarship fund, supported by NASCAR’s officials, drivers, partners and fans in memory of Brienne, is substantially helping young women pursue their dream careers in the automotive and NASCAR industries."
Set to graduate next year, Weschenfelder’s long term plans are to pursue a NASCAR career, while her short term goals are to gain hands-on experience working on passenger cars in auto shops along the East coast.
“My ultimate dream would be to work on the racecars in NASCAR,” stated Weschenfelder. “But my immediate plan right now is to start off working on cars in the Northeast part of the country and then work my way down back to Texas.”
Being awarded a UTI Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarship, Weschenfelder says, has helped ease financial burdens and allowed her to focus on her education and desired career path.
“I just want to thank the NASCAR officials, all the drivers, sponsors and fans who contributed to the scholarship program – it has been such a tremendous help,” said Weschenfelder. “I couldn’t have done it without the scholarship, it’s helped out so much.”
Know a female interested in pursuing a career in automotive? UTI Brienne Davis Memorial Scholarship Applications are currently being accepted at www.utifoundation.net.
