Student-built race cars coming to Texas Autocross
The University of Texas at Arlington’s 21st annual Texas Autocross will feature about 13 teams and 30 cars from universities all over the region on Oct. 15, racing around the southern edge of the campus.
The Formula Society of Automotive Engineering (FSAE) teams compete against the clock not for prize money, but for bragging rights on the track.
Bob Woods, adviser to UTA’s nationally renowned FSAE program and a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been involved in every Texas Autocross since its inception.
“The Texas Autocross has been around for a long time,” Woods said. “We have relationships built through this event that date back to the beginning. It’s neat seeing the students and alums swap ideas and automotive know-how. That’s what makes this event great.”
The UTA team builds a car from scratch each year. Timing and scoring will be done by volunteers from the Texas Region of Sports Car Club of America. Woods said a welcome social, hosted by Taylor Race, will be held Friday night in the Arnold E. Petsche Center for Automotive Engineering showcase room in Woolf Hall.
Racing begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and cars run until noon. Texas-style barbecue will be generously provided by Mouser Electronics at noon. A panoramic photo of all cars and teams will be taken just after lunch.
The Saturday afternoon course will be the 2012 Lincoln FSAE autocross course modified to fit UTA’s lot 49 and will run from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Any qualified driver may drive on Saturday and Sunday. There is no limit on how many runs a driver gets.
On Sunday, there will be a formal “Formula Cars Only” autocross event on the UTA campus. Racing starts at 9:30 a.m. and runs until about noon. The track will be more open than typical FSAE tracks. There will be two heats with alternate run/work orders. Texas Autocross will allow up to three drivers per car in each heat, for a total of six drivers. Each driver will get four runs in a true autocross style.
Sponsors include Mouser Electronics, Taylor Race, Sawyer Composite, E-Controls and Liqui Moly. Chris Andrews of Panther City is sponsoring free T-shirts to every registered entrant. Matt Travis will provide the Port-a-Pots as he has done every year. Red Bull will be giving out drinks.