Ohio Tech Student in the Winners Circle at NHRA Nationals

Each July two lucky High Performance and Racing students earn the opportunity to work side by side with real race teams when they are in town for the NHRA Nationals held at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. “For the past four years we have been able to offer our students this incredible opportunity,” says Steve McBride, Director of Ohio Tech's High Performance & Racing Program. “We constantly network with many professional teams and owners. One student works with Antron Brown through a cooperative partnership between OTC and  Matco Tools and a second student is able to shadow with Kalitta Motorsports.” This year the two lucky students were  Evan Baugh (HP 11) and Dustin Weiser (HP 10). Both students were at the track early Friday morning and didn't leave until past midnight. “We were back early Saturday morning and did it all again,” says Weiser. “The entire weekend was exhausting but there was nothing like it when the team learned Antron won,” says Baugh. “ My driver was eliminated early on,” says Weiser, “but this experience was priceless and I learned a lot over three days.” Both students wrote impressive essays in order to be selected, along with having excellent grades, attendance and attitudes. “I need to make sure the students I send into a professional team environment are up for the challenge,” says McBride. “ The last two students who had this opportunity are now working in the NHRA and overall we have six OTC graduates on Kalitta race teams alone. There is no margin for error here. This is a privilege. I have to send the right students.”