The Wolverine Race Team participated in the 2008 Speed Week and the 2008 World of Speed on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

 

Bonneville Speedway is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports.  It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed records, typically set durning Speed Week in September of each year.

Speedweek is a national event with over 500 entries trying for new speed records. Utah Valley University Automotive Technology Department was there and Todd Low, a professor at UVU, raced his custom vehicle, a 1969 Chevrolet El Camino.  He made an excellent showing with speeds up to 194 mph in the "Classic Gas Coupe" catagory. 

Low is just one of the many speed enthusiasts from around the world expected to try to break land-speed records of their vehicles.

"I got the idea that I wanted to race in Speed Week about five years ago and have been working on my car ever since," Low said. "It is just something that I have always wanted to do."

Students from Low's high-performance engine class have also been heavily involved in the research and development of this project. His pit crew includes many of his students.

Students also refurbished and painted the car that started out as a "rusted out old El Camino. It was anglyar," Low said.

"Some students not attending my class actually heard what we were doing and wanted to get involved as well," he said.

Not only does the experience look good on a resume, it's also been exciting to work on a racing vehicle, student Kevin Petersen of Orem said.

"The whole idea of high performance is to get the perfect air to fuel mixture," he said.

That knowledge, which leads to better fuel mileage, can then be used on everyday vehicles. Having that knowledge will boost his ability to find a job in his chosen field, Petersen said.

Low, who has taught automotive classes at the college for the past 17 years, has received the UVU Presidential Scholarly Award for involving his students on this project, which included $2,000 in award money. He used it to buy safety equipment for the El Camino, including a parachute for slowing down the car and a fire-extinguishing system.  "It's all for safety," he said.

During the "World of Speed" event over 275 high schools students interested in our automotive program attended. The race car made numerous runs, collected valuable data, tried an alternative fuel and involved many UVU students. The UVU Automotive students provided numerous service hours for the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association.

The UVU Race team and the Elcamino were one of the featured cars at the World of Speed event. The UVU race car was on the calendar/poster and all of the T-shirts that were sold for the event.

Thanks to the collision repair department for making the car looks so good. A big thanks to the other sponsors: CEL money, Presidential Award, and Exceptional Merit for their support to provide this opportunity for our students and department.

 

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