New Drag School @ Rockingham Dragway...
Beginning this fall motorsport racing enthusiasts will have an opportunity to turn their interest into a career. Sandhills Community College, in conjunction with the Rockingham Dragstrip, will offer the course "Selected Topics in Drag Race Vehicle Preparation."
The instructor for the course will be Thurman Exum, Director of Motorsports
Management at NC A&T. Exum's credentials include a long career in drag
racing.
A native of Seven Springs in eastern NC, Exum and his brother often took the
family car out for spins, many times breaking it in the process. He was
inclined to learn how to repair the vehicle, since, "The only way we got a
chance to ride again was to fix what we broke."
Sandhills will host the classroom portion of the course on its Pinehurst
campus in Sirotek Hall on Friday evenings. The lab portion will be taught
on Saturday mornings at the Rockingham Dragstrip.
The Rockingham strip, which is a different entity than the speedway, is
affectionately known as "The Rock." It is owned by Steve Earwood. His
enthusiasm and support has been important in the development of the new
course.
Professor Alex Cameron, Chairman of the Department of Transportation Systems
at Sandhills, says the class is designed to study the science of making a
car go quick and fast.
"Motorsports is a $6 billion dollar industry in NC, and the state wants to
keep motorsports here, said Cameron. "Drag racing has not been pursued by
any other community college in NC, so we are trying to fill a niche."
Rick Swanson, Dean of Instruction at Sandhills, added that he would "like to
see the program expand," noting the significant growth of motorsports in NC.
Cameron agrees, stating, "We want to give our students in the automotive
program an opportunity to explore other motorsports careers. In addition,
we hope to attract students with a general interest in motorsports, but who
have not, until this point, had an educational opportunity to discover a
career in the industry."
Topics that will be covered include Careers in Motorsports, Performance
Engines, Vehicle Dynamics, Power Train Requirements and Set-Up, Suspension
Requirements and Set-Up, Race Track Surface Preparation and Data Acquisition
Systems.
The class size is limited to 16 students, and prospective students are
encouraged to enroll as soon as possible. For more information on the
program, contact Alex Cameron at (910) 695-3958 or
camerona@sandhills.edu
