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Les Freeman drives the 98 car during the annual Texas Autocross Weekend on Oct. 17 at Lot 49 at UTA. Freeman raced with the team from 1996 to 1998 and returned to drive the 1998 car.<\/p>\n
Photo by General Mason Starks <\/a><\/p>\n On the morning of Oct. 17, Formula SAE vehicles raced across the concrete of Lot 49 on campus at the annual Texas Autocross Weekend. One hundred and sixteen drivers took to the track, trying for their best times.\u00a0<\/p>\n For 25 years, UTA has hosted the weekend event, bringing in students from across Texas and out of the state to compete against one another for the ultimate win: bragging rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n Preparation for the event took around three to four months, with the UTA Racing club contacting sponsors, figuring out the logistics of the event and making sure everything was ready for the weekend, said Eduardo Hernandez, shop foreman for UTA Racing Formula SAE Team.\u00a0<\/p>\n At 9 a.m., drivers slipped into the seats of cars as last-minute adjustments were made. A wheel changed, a bolt or part replaced. Anticipation filled the air as cars spit and roared at the start of the course, lining up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n UTA alumnus John Burford adjusts a tire on a car during the annual Texas Autocross Weekend on Oct. 17 at Lot 49 at UTA. The team was founded in 1982.<\/p>\n Photo by General Mason Starks <\/a><\/p>\n Robert Woods, endowed chair of Mechanical Engineering and UTA Racing faculty advisor, said the event was meant to bring together students to have fun with the cars they spent a year building for national or international competitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve decided to put this together\u00a0to let the teams enjoy their cars at something other than a high-pressure competition, so there\u2019s no pressure out here,\u201d Woods said. \u201cEverybody can run, and it\u2019s just bragging rights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The teams had been preparing for the competition for over a year, designing, building, testing and optimizing their cars, Hernandez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTechnically speaking, they\u2019re\u00a0considered FSA cars,\u201d he said. \u201cWe like to say they\u2019re essentially miniature F1 cars; they use a lot of the same basic principles.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As racers took to the track, small issues with the vehicles were found. Hernandez said the goal of Saturday was to get the drivers warmed up and used to the track as well as fix those last-minute issues.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The day also served as an opportunity for the teams from other schools to interact and get to know each\u00a0other, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cStudents form lifelong alliances, and that helps them in jobs and so forth,\u201d Woods said. \u201cIt gives them a chance to show off their workmanship and their driving skills, and interact with other teams that have the same passion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n UTA had around 10 cars on the\u00a0track Oct. 17, said Andrew Nguyen, UTA Racing chief engineer.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the cars was an A modified class car. Nguyen said it is considered the fastest SCCA car in North America.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Innovation of 25-plus years could be seen in the parking spaces on the corner of the lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat car is a 1998,\u201d Nguyen said, pointing to the oldest car UTA had on the track. \u201cIt went overseas in 2018 because it won its competition in \u201898, and then it got invited out again in 2018 to London.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The 1998 was driven by the club\u2019s alumni.\u00a0<\/p>\n UTA aumni Les Freeman, left, and John Burford speak during the annual Texas Autocross Weekend on Oct. 17 at Lot 49 at UTA. One of the UTA Racing team\u2019s sponsors is Mouser Electronics.<\/p>\n Photo by General Mason Starks <\/a><\/p>\n UTA alumnus John Burford was the team leader and chief engineer for the 1998 vehicle. The vehicle competed in the first Formula Student event in the United Kingdom and won.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted it to be an enduring car,\u201d Burford said, \u201cWe knew UTA had a long history of keeping its old cars, and I definitely wanted this car to be one that would be around for a long time for the team to use and to build on.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2018, when the competition reached out to the club to have the vehicle displayed at the event, Burford was called back to UTA by Woods to restore the vehicle and make it drivable again, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n UTA alumnus Les Freeman, who raced with the team from 1996 to 1998, drove the 98 car on Oct. 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n Freeman said they test-drove the car the weekend before, breaking in the tires and making sure the car ran well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited, I\u2019m looking forward to it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been about 30 years since I\u2019ve been in a car. 98 was the last car I drove in; I get the opportunity to drive that today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael Black drives the 98 car during the annual Texas Autocross Weekend on Oct. 17 at Lot 49 at UTA. UTA Racing hosted participants from universities across the country.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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