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High school student Austin Windell jumped at the chance to earn free college credit through a new motorsports program at Central Piedmont Community College.
During his first day in the program last week, the Hopewell High School senior and four others took turns at machines used for folding, slicing and rounding metal. They also punched holes in metal plates and made recessed lines called beads.
Windell, 17, said the two-semester Automotive Systems and Motorsports Academy for juniors and seniors is part of his path to jobs in the motorsports industry.
The economic impact of motorsports is an estimated $6billion annually in North Carolina, including some 26,000 jobs, according to Laurie Walker, director of the Transport Systems Technologies division at CPCC.
Windell hopes to become a welder or transmission specialist.
“I've loved cars my whole life,” Windell said. “I have a big interest in NASCAR.”
CPCC began planning the motorsports program 10 years ago at the urging of H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, former president of Lowe's Motor Speedway. Wheeler wanted to expand the industry's work force.
Officials at CPCC say the program is distinctive because it focuses on hands-on technical training. It is designed to prepare students for jobs that researchers found are in demand. Welders, machinists, assemblers and fabricators are among those, Walker said.
The motorsports program is offered at CPCC's North Campus in Huntersville, also a location for associate degree programs in automotive technology, auto body technology and heavy equipment.
Students in the motorsports program learn welding, metal fabrication and chassis fabrication. The skills can be used for making hot rods, dirt racers and monster trucks, stock cars, motorcycles or even boats, said Dave Bowen, chairman of CPCC's motorsports and auto body programs. The skills also can be used in other industries that depend on custom metal work.
In motorsports, buying parts is not always possible for older or custom vehicles. Someone has to make them. That creates demand for skilled metal workers, Bowen said.
“This is an opportunity for young kids to take up this art form,” Bowen said. “It's sought-after. Not everyone can do it.”
Bowen owned an auto-body repair shop in West Virginia for 20 years before coming to Charlotte in 1997. His staff also did metal fabrication for dirt-rack and drag cars. He estimates that an entry-level metal fabricator can earn about $25,000 a year. The most-skilled fabricators can earn $100,000 or more, he said.
The high school students take four classes: Introduction to Racing, Race Car MIG Welding, Race Car Chassis Fabrication and Race Car Sheet Metal Fabrication. Their credits can be applied toward an associate degree.
Motorsports training also is offered in continuing education classes, which do not offer college credit.
The motorsports classes are small – just six enrolled this semester – giving students more access to the equipment and instructors.
Joshua Cook, a senior at North Mecklenburg High School, said he's serious about making the most of the opportunity for advanced studies.
“I want to be able to build anything, whether it's a candy dish or a race-car body,” said Cook, 17. “I might not end up in NASCAR, but it's a trade.”
