Race car association announced

Relationship to provide students with educational opportunities, experience

March 27, 2006 —

Saginaw Valley Community Auto Racing (SVCAR) recently announced it has formed an association with Andretti Green Racing and Klein Tools, creating an opportunity for students to gain practical experience working with some of the biggest names in racing.

"My big dream is to give my students extraordinary lives," says SVCAR President and founder Brooks Byam. An associate professor of mechanical engineering, Byam says he will hopefully fulfill that dream by giving students the opportunity to work in the competitive world of motorsports, an industry Byam is quite fond of and calls the "most competitive, most exciting there is."

"The racing environment creates a 'can do' culture that makes students take risks and innovate with a sense of urgency," Byam says. "That just doesn't happen in other venues."

The association creates the potential for students involved with SVCAR to work alongside Andretti Green in testing, researching, and developing a variety of racing elements to improve the team's overall performance.

Founded in Dec. 2002 by partners Michael Andretti, Kim Green, and Kevin Savoree, Andretti Green will field four cars this year in the IndyCar Series (ICS) of the Indy Racing League (IRL) and two more in the developmental Indy Pro Series (IPS). Andretti Green Racing has won the last two ICS championships.

"It's huge," Byam says of the association. "It doesn't exist anywhere else."

According to Byam, the relationship between the associates has been in development for several years. Originally, Byam had considered the prospect of starting a race team on a college campus with the help of the surrounding community and its businesses. But after contacting IRL associates and gathering all the necessary data, Byam found the idea would need about $1.5 million to get off the ground.

Thinking finding that kind of money in the financially strapped Saginaw Valley would be difficult, Byam used contacts he had developed through Klein Tools to get in touch with both Rahal Letterman and Andretti Green Racing to pitch his idea.

It was quickly suggested, however, that Byam create an association with a current team in order to cut down on the expenses and liability that would come with creating a brand new team. Eventually, Andretti Green Racing stepped forward and volunteered to become associates with SVCAR.

Byam hopes the relationship SVCAR has with Andretti Green will grow to the point where SVSU can send interns to Indianapolis or even have students tour the racing series with the team.

And while the idea may seem unrealistic, Byam says the ultimate dream would be to have an SVSU student working in the pit during an Andretti Green win in the Indianapolis 500.

In addition to new experiences, the development of SVCAR also creates opportunities for the already successful campus racing program, Cardinal Formula Racing (CFR). As faculty advisor to CFR, Byam has seen the team recently develop into a perennial top ten contender with two top ten finishes in the world championships in the last four years.

Eventually, Byam hopes to integrate both programs, potentially requiring students to work about two years on CFR before they can advance to working on projects for SVCAR.

According to Byam, requiring time with CFR could supply the team with more members, since some students could be drawn to CFR just for the opportunity to work with a racing name like Andretti Green.

"What we've been able to do with CFR is really open a lot of doors," Byam says. "We're producing real tangible results you can lay your hands on. And the students love it."

The next step for SVCAR will begin to take shape this spring and summer when Byam will start actively seeking local investors and sponsors.

According to Byam, the motive for businesses to invest in SVCAR will be to help provide students with educational opportunities that could one day help them become employees of those very businesses. Ultimately, for many companies, such sponsorship is potentially an investment in future workers.

Byam also cautions students and investors alike not to shy away from motorsports because of the stigma of the auto industry in the Saginaw Valley. Byam says that while area companies such as GM and Ford are hurting, the addition of SVCAR could greatly benefit the community.

In addition, Byam also wants students to understand that they do not have to be engineering or business majors to participate on the team.

"I can take every major on this campus and apply it to this race team," he says.

With potential investors coming in the spring and summer and possibly projects to work on in the fall, Byam is excited about SVCAR and its future for students, the university, and the community.

"The bottom line here is I'm trying to build the most exciting, most experiential, most entrepreneurial, most results-oriented education program there is," Byam says.

For further information on SVCAR contact Brooks Byam at (989) 964-4489 or bpbyam@svsu.edu.