Think what you want, but the simple fact of the matter is, there are hundreds of other people just like you that can build race cars. What do you think is going to give you an edge over them? What would make people buy cars from you and not someone else?

Not unless you go out and win a lot of races in the cars you build, then nobody will want to buy a car from you. You need something to prove you have the intelligence to give your product an edge. It doesn't have to be an engineering degree necessarily. The University of Northwestern Ohio has a dirt car program. You could spend two years working on dirt cars and get a degree doing it.

Don't get upset with the people on here giving you their advice, because you asked for it. Everyone is trying to help ya out.

If your not going to college,,then get a job you like ..no sence spending a lifetime doing a mundain job you hate..now don't get me wrong ..if your daddy has offered to put you through college and you pass ..your a fool..why not trade school ,,,machinest,ect good luck...keep in mind a 17 you still have time to screw up and recover

Not knowing you personally, if you have always lived in the same location you may not be ready for a move half way across the country for a job you don't want. There is nothing wrong with working for Teo, Troyer, Bicknell or Tobias. At least you would be closer to home, free meals etc...

I have an engineering diploma. It would be a huge asset, and with the way our economy is racing is becoming more of a luxury and not so much of a career choice. The UNOH program seems to be something that a kid like yourself would benefit from. I really doubt you are gonna be able to afford having an engineer on your staff.

I'm glad text messaging hasn't eroded your ability to spell like so many other kids. I know reading and writing may be overrated and not so important while building chassis', it's the marketing, accounting and business planning that may very well be what makes or breaks your business. First impressions count, and just remember you have plenty of time to screw up (or get experience and a great head start) on your future.

As a married man, I'd also have to say get all of this "finding yourself", "life decisions", out of the way before you even think about having kids and getting married.

Not upset at all. I thought of attending the UNOH program, but I can learn probably just as much being around my raceteam. One of the best IMHO crew cheifs in WINGED sprintcar racing is good friends with my team owners. My team owner builds his own motors. My "teammate" works at DMI and assembles rear ends, and is a dam good machinist on the side. I know some setup stuff, and still learning. My point is, UNOH has a good program that focuses around IMCA/UMP style modifieds. Im into open wheel dirt cars. Why pay a lot of money and learn what I could learn for free, or at the very most a pitpass every week?

Ain't nothing FREE.

Why? Because physics doesn't change when you cross state lines, race different surfaces, or race a particular type of car. The name of the racing game is always the same, optimize the vehicle/driver combination. Whether you learn it with a mod, sprint, late-model, or bomber on dirt or asphalt, it really doesn't matter. And it's not about how much you can probably learn, it's more about how quickly. Since you're in a focused program and environment at UNOH, you'll learn things in 3 or 4 yrs what may take decades to just 'pick-up' at the cost of a pitpass.

Chad Atkinson

Chad has some real good points. Lima is only 15 miles from Waynesfield. You can go to Lima on Friday with the school and Waynesfield on Saturday for non wing.
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UNOH will set you up with a Sprint Car team if you don't desire to work on the mods.

Build one and start winning and everything will take care of itself, just be ready for a long road, marketing is where its at
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I had the same dream when I was a kid, but ended up getting side tracked. BUT I did get an engineering degree, and now I have a day job that will support a sprint car, even in this crappy economy. Also, if you have to work outside of racing, engineering can be done with broken bones, as long as you can get to your desk. I hurt my back last year crashing the sprint car. If I had to do 'real' work, I would have missed a lot of paychecks. But I could still plan and supervise projects, so I was able to keep the money coming in. Just something to think about, and one of the reasons that I got a degree. I also did not like school, and ended up in the Navy for 6 years before I finally went back and got my degree. If you do decide to push on without the education, Good Luck (I mean it, no sarcasm intended), and keep believing in yourself, it can be hard at times.