NASCAR Technical Institute grand opening UPDATE: The NASCAR Technical Institute has its grand opening at 6:00pm/et on Monday, May 20th at Talbert Pointe Business Park in Mooresville, NC. The Institute is the first-ever technical training school that combines a complete automotive technology program and a NASCAR-specific motorsports program. The Institute can train 1,900 students daily in core entry-level automotive technology and NASCAR expertise. The Institute, which will be housed in a $12 million, 146,000 square-foot facility, will have around 150 employees and will be aimed at addressing the shortage of qualified auto service technicians in the automotive industry.(ThatsRacin.com)(5-18-2002) UPDATE: NASCAR continued its rapid expansion Monday at the grand opening of a school designed to specifically train mechanics and help them break into auto racing. The NASCAR Technical Institute is a sparkling 146,000-square foot training facility located on 19 acres in the heart of NASCAR country. The school is capable of training 1,900 students a day and ready them for jobs in auto racing. The school offers two programs – one lasts 57 weeks, the other lasts 69 – and consists of traditional technology training, as well as NASCAR specific training. Tuition starts at $24,350 and the first session begins July 1. NASCAR teamed with Universal Technical Institute to build the school, which requires only a high school degree or a General Equivalency Diploma and has an age requirement of at least 18 years old. Coursework includes engine construction, electrical, fuel and lubrication systems, drive trains, body and chassis fabrication and racing theory principles. Students will also learn the history and rules and regulations of NASCAR. Graduates are expected to easily find work, whether its with a race team, a car dealership or a garage.(Augusta Chronicle/AP).(5-21-2002) AND With the grand opening of the NASCAR Technical Institute this summer in Mooresville, N.C., UPS extends its NASCAR partnership with UPS Racing Technical Edge Scholarships offered for financial assistance to minority students seeking careers in racing and automotive technology. The scholarship program unites two important UPS goals: to encourage diversity and advance educational opportunity. UPS supports the sport’s growing and diverse fan base with active participation on the NASCAR Diversity Council and a paid 10-week summer assignment for a student from one of the nation’s historically black colleges as part of NASCAR’s Minority Internship Program. UPS will provide scholarships to students based on financial need with attention to automotive work experience and automotive-related career goals. Applicants must be high school graduates or be completing their senior year and be registered or planning to enroll in the 57-week North Carolina-based program by November 1, 2002. Scholarship Management Services of St. Peter, Minn., will administer the program with applications posted on the UPS Racing web site in June.(Business Wire)(5-21-2002)
