By Dave Taylor
ISU Director of Media Relations
When the 2008 racing season starts May 2 at
the Terre Haute Action Track, it will mark more than renewed interest
in the legendary half-mile racing venue where such drivers as Parnelli
Jones, A.J. Foyt, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart once kicked up some
dirt. It will mean new opportunities for students in Indiana State
University*s motorsports program.
The university will sponsor the first race of
the season at the clay oval, The Clabber Girl Don Smith Classic
Presented by Indiana State University. An agreement with DHK Promotions
LLC, which signed a three-year deal with the Vigo County Fair Board in
February to operate the track, also calls for students to be heavily
involved in the facility's operations.
The partnership will allow Indiana State
students to experience the business of motorsports first hand through
interactive participation in the planning and execution of events. This
"laboratory" environment will give students the opportunity to gain
valuable real life knowledge for the future as they seek employment in
a chosen motorsports-related field.
"We want to provide a real-world portal to
future careers in motorsports," Guy Faulkner, director of Indiana
State's motorsports initiative, said. "This is a historic
partnership."
The university's agreement with DHK Promotions
will supplement what students learn in the classroom via internships;
student mentoring and project research, Faulkner said. The university
also will work with DHK to secure industry speakers and classroom
guests.
The Action Track hopes to play a key role in
helping Indiana State develop a program intended to serve the needs of
an industry the Indiana Economic Development Corp. has targeted for
growth, Mike King of DHK Promotions said.
"Hopefully, what is now a motor-sports minor
will soon become a major. Students would then be able to come to
Indiana State and, upon graduation, go out into the business world
knowing every facet of motorsports management from the ground up," King
said.
In addition to King, the radio voice of the
Indianapolis 500, DHK principals include former major league baseball
player and Indiana State alumnus Brian Dorsett and open-wheel racer
Davey Hamilton.
Already, some students are gaining experience
in a variety of areas thanks to Indiana State's partnership with DHK,
Faulkner said.
"Management information systems students are
working on new ticketing systems," he said. "In addition, marketing
students will conduct market research on fans' likes and dislikes and
report their findings to the track's management."
Indiana State will also use events at the Action Track to inform
futurestudents of the opportunities for study in the motorsports field.
Launched in 2006, the motorsports program at
ISU is multi-disciplinary, including students and faculty from the
College of Business; College of Technology; and College of Nursing,
Health, and Human Services, and shortly the College of Education. It
has been designated a "Program of Promise" under a program funded in
part by a gift from the Lilly Endowment intended to highlight the
university's most distinctive programs.
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