AMERICAN SPEED ASSOCIATION EDUCATIONAL SERIES LAUNCHED
The new American Speed Association Educational Series, under the direction of co-partners Steve Einhaus and Peter Raskovic, has announced the newly formed Scholarship program in conjunction with the new series, targeted to begin competition in the spring of 2007 at selected tracks in the Midwest. Ohio Technical College, based out of Cleveland, Ohio, will collaborate with the new series that was formed to attract the school student population to be directly involved with racing through the participation of their high school. Similar to other sporting events, the series teams will compete for points in qualifying events for their school, while being part of a driving force designed to keep the youth population moving and thinking in a positive direction, and further their education through scholarship opportunities.
Here's How the Program Works:
The American Speed Association Educational Series allows students enrolled in accredited automotive technology programs nationwide to work as crewmembers on a local, supporting ASA Midwest Tour Team. Interested high school and technical colleges will be linked, through the Educational Series, to a local Midwest Tour Team that has agreed to work with the automotive technology instructor, students and the sponsoring school. This reduces the cost significantly to the school, with the major investment being time and scheduling of the crew’s work schedule and integration of the series curriculum.
The sponsoring ASA Midwest Tour Team carries the school’s banner on the car and the selected student crewmembers work with the race team during the season on a weekly basis maintaining the car in the shop and at the track. Teams compete against other schools during the season, much the same as football or baseball teams do, with one school emerging as the overall point’s leader. An ASA Educational series representative will help schools initiate the program and make the connection to a local supporting Team. Participating teams will be compensated through a seperate purse at each event.
The series, through it's partnership with Ohio Technical College, will provide scholarships to students on participating teams who are pursuing a career in Automotive Technology, Diesel, Automotive Collision, and Performance Programs. Winning schools earn points that convert into dollars, which can be used to purchase equipment for their automotive programs, or used towards instructor professional development.
David Lane, the Corporate Development Director at Ohio Technical College, expressed his thoughts regarding his school's new partnership with the ASA Educational Series; "Ohio Technical College has been educating professional technicians for nearly 40 years. The main reason we have survived this long is passion; Marc Brenner, the President and CEO of Ohio Technical College, is without a doubt the most passionate person I have ever met. This same passion spills in to everyone at OTC, we love what we do and we provide the up and coming technicians with everything we wish we had when we were learning. Being part of a wonderful organization like the American Speed Association and the Educational Series is a natural progression for us, because we are all about helping students live the dream we live in our racing hearts."
The Director of Enrollment Management at Ohio Technical College, Tom King shared his thoughts regarding the partnership, "We are excited about the opportunity to partner with the ASA Educational Series. We look forward to continuing our commitment to education through the series and providing these extraordinary students with the tools they need to pursue a career they love."
The Educational Series will be partnering up with the American Speed Association Midwest Tour, the Upper Midwest’s hottest new Super Late Model Series. Midwest Tour Vice President Steve Einhaus is also a co-owner of the new educational series that will follow on the heels of the new Midwest Tour.
The Educational Series was formed by connecting current competitors in the American Speed Association Midwest Tour with area High School Automotive Technology Programs and technical college automotive programs. "We’ll start off by locating schools that are interested in taking part in the Series and then connecting them with a local competitor in their geographical area that competes with the tour," stated Einhaus
According to Pete Raskovic, he and Steve Einhaus came up with the idea of an educational series because of the declining interest in racing by youth. The two met after Raskovic and his friend and mentor, Ken Hendricks, CEO of ABC Supply were working on the formation of a new American Speed Association Late Model team at Beloit Memorial High School in Wisconsin. Raskovic said, “Ken is the real visionary here”. “Ken came up with the idea of keeping youths in school by making them part of a stock car team and tying it into education, so he said let’s build a car!” With funding from Mr. Hendricks, Urban Force Racing was developed.
Steve Einhaus, (who recently has taken on ownership of the newly formed American Speed Association Midwest Tour) states, "This is a fantastic program for all of those involved. It works hand in hand by bringing together young students that have an interest in the auto mechanics trade and connects them with area racers that have great knowledge for the sport and the determination behind it. It takes dedication and support by all of those involved and the Midwest Tour is happy to have the educational series as a part of our traveling program."
Dennis Huth, the president of the ASA Racing confirms, "With car racing having more than one hundred years of history behind it, there are really not that many new and unique ideas any more. I honestly feel the idea Steve Einhaus and Pete Raskovic have created as the Educational Series truly qualifies as something fresh, new and unique. Even with the popularity of motor sports in America today, there are no clear paths for a student to follow if they desire to have a career in the sport. The ASA Educational Series will provide the foundation for that path and allow interested students access to a hands-on way to learn about racing and see if that really has potential as a career. The opportunity to receive scholarship assistance and internships is what makes this program unique. I applaud Steve and Pete for their insightfulness and dedication to turning an idea that will change the lives of students into a reality, and am thrilled the American Speed Association is fortunate enough to be able to play a role in the program."
More information can be obtained by visiting www.asamidwesttour.com by clicking on the Educational Series link. Competing teams that are interested in becoming a part of the Educational Series are encouraged to contact your local high school automotive program.
