NASCAR Technical Institute Graduates Drive Success
Team Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano stopped by the Team Penske race shop in Mooresville, North Carolina following top-10 finishes at Michigan International Speedway to thank the NASCAR Technical Institute graduates who help drive their team’s success on the track.
NASCAR Tech is one of 13 Universal Technical Institute campuses nationwide, offering both automotive technician training and advanced training for students pursuing a career in motorsports.
Team Penske, winners of 20 combined victories so far in the 2018 race season across NASCAR, INDYCAR, IMSA and Australian Supercars-including its 17th Indianapolis 500 win-currently employs more than 50 NASCAR Tech graduates in positions ranging from entry-level mechanic to chief mechanic.
Keselowski, the 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion and driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Fusion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, said he appreciates the vital importance of the training his teams’ technicians and crews receive during their time at Universal Technical Institute’s NASCAR Tech campus.
“We love seeing NASCAR Technical Institute graduates join Team Penske,” said Keselowski. “I have two on my team right now, and we’re very proud to see them move up through the ranks at Team Penske and to have this relationship with Universal Technical Institute and NASCAR Tech.”
Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 Champion and driver of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, says NASCAR Tech graduates make a difference in his teams’ performance, on and off the race track.
“Our front-end mechanic is a graduate from NASCAR Technical Institute,” said Logano. “Winning races takes more than a driver and a crew chief. It takes a whole team of people to put this all together, which is why it’s so important for me to have graduates from NASCAR Tech bring their skill sets to work on my race car.”
Travis Law, a 2006 NASCAR Tech graduate and chief mechanic of Josef Newgarden’s No. 1 Verizon IndyCar Series Dallara/Chevrolet, has worked with Team Penske for 10 years. He grew up around racing in Iowa and was building cars as a hobby when he was a teenager.
Law knew he wanted to make a living working on race cars. He was among the first wave of NASCAR Tech students hired at Team Penske, setting the bar high for graduates who followed in his footsteps.
Law started as a tire specialist, worked his way up to mechanic, and then became an IndyCar chief mechanic in 2014.
“I loved racing and wanted a career in it,” said Law. “NASCAR Tech was an easy choice. I knew it would be the gateway into racing and it was going to open doors for me.”
NASCAR Technical Institute is the exclusive educational provider for NASCAR and the only campus in the country to offer NASCAR-endorsed training.
