Eight members of the St. Thomas racing team spend more than 40 hours a week in the basement of O’Shaugnessy Science Center building with one thing in mind- racing.
The team has been working on its race car for nearly five months. Junior and engineering major Stephen Miller said the team focused on the vehicle’s frame and electrical issues, which were two major problems from the previous year.
“This year, we already have the frame finalized; we’ve gotten a very very solid start on electrical which was a huge downfall to last year,” Miller said. “You spent about 24 straight hours on the electrical. It was a real after thought, so we are putting it on the front of the plate for this year.”
With a head start on the car, the team hopes to end the season with a “half-way” finish at the annual race which takes place in Michigan in May.
“There is about 120 teams that compete and a 60th place finish would be outstanding for us, still being a really young team, only 3 years old”
Racing Club adviser John Angelis said the club offers students a chance to improve teamwork skills.
“They get to apply their skills of what they are learning and get something fun out of it together, too,” Angeli said. “There’s a lot of teamwork and cohesion amongst them as well, and that’s a lot of fun to see.”
Given all the work that goes into making the car raceable, President Luke Hollaran said he always has racing on his mind.
“It takes 40 hours, and with that you are always thinking about it in class, before you go to bed … you are always thinking about racing and what you can improve from what you were designing that day.”
Although being on the team involves a lot of work and committing 40 hours to work on the car and the business plan, Miller said he enjoys being a part of it.
“We have a lot of fun down here. It’s not just building a racecar; there’s a whole lot of planning that goes into it. It’s extremely hard, but absolutely the most rewarding thing you can do as an engineer.”
Johnnay Leenay can be reached at leen1980@stthomas.edu.