Drive and determination
The University of Texas at Arlington’s 20th annual Texas Autocross competition will feature about 35 student-built racecars from universities across the country competing on a track on the southern edge of campus.
About 240 students representing 14 teams will compete in the Texas Autocross, a form of racing involving a pattern of sweeping and hairpin turns, slaloms and straightaways. Cars race against the clock. The best time wins.
Saturday’s competition starts at 9 a.m. on Lot 49, at the southeast corner of Cooper and Mitchell streets. Racing will start at 9 a.m. Sunday for the formula autocross event. Last year’s race was canceled due to the pandemic.
“The Autocross has been around for a long time,” said Bob Woods, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE) and adviser to the Formula Society of Automotive Engineering (FSAE) teams. “It’s a great place where these students get together, build relationships and share some automotive secrets.”
Every year, students build an FSAE car from scratch. Then they race the car against the clock—and other schools—at competitions across the country and around the world.
UTA’s FSAE racing team has a storied past and a trophy case full of international and national awards. Established in 1982, the team is one of the most successful student racecar programs in the nation, having won eight championships in the United States and three abroad.The program can claim innovative changes in the automotive industry, including moveable wings to reduce drag and an all-electric FSAE racecar. In 2018, former and current UTA formula racing students traveled to the United Kingdom to commemorate the 20th anniversary of UTA’s win at the inaugural Formula Student United Kingdom event held at Silverstone Circuit.
UTA was also the only team from the United States to compete in the recent Global Electric Vehicle Challenge, a two-phase competition involving more than a dozen international teams. UTA placed third in the aerodynamics category; second in the electromechanical design and controls category; second in the electrical systems, battery and battery management category; fourth in the quality of report category and fourth place overall.
In September 2021, three Maverick vehicles won in two classes at the 2021 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Solo Nationals at Lincoln Airpark in Nebraska. Chris Dunn, a recent UTA mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE) graduate, drove the UTA-Mod car to an overwhelming A Modified Class victory. A normal winning margin is about 0.1 seconds. Dunn’s winning time was 8.059 seconds faster than the second-place vehicle.
The UTA-Mod car was the second fastest car overall out of 1,100 entrants.
“The car and driver were really fast,” Woods said.
Kencey Christopher, a graphic arts student, came in third place after two days of racing. JD Price, an MAE alumnus, came in first in the FSAE category, 0.459 seconds ahead of teammate Reed Greenwood, who took second-place honors. UT Arlington won four total trophies, including the two class wins.
“They overcame a lot last year and this year and still built winning cars,” Woods said. “The students have shown a certain drive and determination. They’ve shown that nothing will get in the way of building a great and successful racecar.”
Woods joined UTA’s College of Engineering in 1974 and has developed one of the most successful student racing programs in the country. He is the first recipient of a distinguished endowed chair established in his honor in 2017 through a gift from Paul E. Andrews Jr., an entrepreneur and businessman.
Sponsors of the Texas Autocross include Mouser Electronics, Chris Andrews of Panther City, Matt Travis Taylor Race, Red Bull, GoEngineer and San Antonio’s E-Controls.