By ELISSA ENGLUND
For The State News
Terry Filice has loved stock car racing since he was 6 years old.
This engineering arts and supply chain management senior said that his early love for car racing was one main reason for his membership in the newly formed MSU ASA Racing Team.
“I wanted MSU to be the first university to have a student-run stock car racing team compete in a professional series,” Filice said.
The racing team became part of the ASA (American Speed Association) this summer and is the first collegiate team ever to race on the professional level.
The ASA is a circuit of stock car racing that involves short, usually 1-mile-long oval shaped courses. The races run about 200 or 300 laps, depending on the track.
In the past summer, the MSU ASA team ran six races, including the Toledo Speedway in Toledo, Ohio and the Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich. Members hope to run eight races in their 2002 season.
The team races a stock car sponsored by General Motors. This car is considered a “development car” because it is designed to test the Vortec ASA 5700, GM’s new, advanced motor.
Because the MSU ASA team is a development team, it does not race for points or winnings. As a result, they always begin at the end of the group, regardless of its standing in the qualifying races. The team also finishes the race at least 10 laps early.
Mechanical engineering senior Rex Beach said that his competitive nature made the development agreement hard to follow because they never had the ability to actually “win” a race.
Scott Pouls, a mechanical engineering senior, feels that, although the team is not racing to win, it has gained a lot from these experiences.
“We’re racing to develop the team and develop the engine we’re working on for General Motors,” Pouls said.
Because members only race for respect and experience, Beach said he felt that the racing team wasn’t always treated as an equal.
“The other teams felt they had something more important to race for, and they basically wanted us to stay out of the way,” he said. “Some of the teams guided us along and we became friends, but then the other teams just kept their distance.”
The group received its car about three weeks before their first race in Toledo and spent the remaining time putting it together.
“There wasn’t an engine in the car and the brakes and suspension weren’t set up,” Pouls said. “Basically the whole car wasn’t set up. We had to do all kinds of stuff to it.”
Scott Watson said that most of the team members had summer jobs that they had to juggle in addition to the mechanical work on the car.
“Our jobs took up a lot of the day and then we’d go to the shop for six hours and sometimes stay up all night. Then we’d have to get up the next day for work,” the mechanical engineering senior said. “It was really tough but I think it was worth it in the end.”
The group finally got the car started at 3 a.m. on July 1, the day of its first race - the qualifying race in Toledo. When the group reached Toledo, it continued its work, missing that day’s races.
The next day, Brandon Fagin of Evansville, Ind., drove the car for the first time on the Toledo Speedway in the race.
Before any race, each of the team members performs specific duties, including a double-check of the car’s mechanics and several other safety measures.
“Some parts need to be changed, such as brake pads, calipers, gears, shocks - the list goes on,” said Filice. “Every nut and bolt has to be checked to make sure nothing is loose.”
Pouls said that safety is the team’s first priority.
“No one on our team would ever do anything to jeopardize the safety of anyone who would be in contact with our race car,” he said.
During the race, the pit crew works to keep the car running smoothly. At a typical pit stop, everyone has a designated job ranging from working the car jack to changing the front and back tires.
Pouls said a typical pit stop could be completed in 10 to 20 seconds. The MSU ASA Racing Team still awaits sponsorship for its upcoming season and currently works to increase awareness of the team’s existence.
The actual racing car will be displayed at the MSU vs. Indiana football game on Saturday at the north side of the stadium in an attempt to get recognition for the team. The car will also be on display from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday at the Texas Roadhouse, 208 E. Edgewood Blvd., in Lansing.
In the future, Beach said that he hopes other colleges will also take interest in forming their own racing teams.
“We were hoping that we’d be the first collegiate team and then other teams would think it was pretty cool. Maybe someday there would be a collegiate racing series,” Beach said. “Universities and stock car racing would be such a great combination and such a great learning experience.”
