If you can turn a wrench and tame an electron, IndyCar wants you

INDIANAPOLIS – Memo to young engineers aspiring to become the next bright minds at the upper levels of motorsports.

Pull your noses out of the laptop for a while and get your hands dirty.

Racing teams are searching the world for the next generation of engineers, especially as the sport advances deeper into hybrid and electric technology. But the commodity that’s becoming more difficult to find is someone with that knowledge who also can spin a wrench.

Mike Hull, managing director of 14-time IndyCar Series champion four-time Indianapolis 500-winning team Chip Ganassi Racing, says he could use a six-pack of kids with that combination of knowledge and skill.

“All race teams at all levels are larger now,” Hull said. “By them being large, it reduces the pool of people who want to do it. When we find a keeper, we work hard to keep them in the fold and we mentor them quite well.”

The Ganassi team, for example, works closely with Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, which offers a motorsports degree in engineering.  Ganassi’s technical director, Julian Robertson, works with the school directing students, as well as the curriculum, toward the practical side of what an engineer must do in IndyCar racing opposed to a strictly academic-driven program.