College teams vie at Baja Bash
CLAY TWP — Grove City College's Society of Automotive Engineers hosted the Baja Butler Bash on Saturday at the SwitchbackMX off-road track.
The daylong competition pitted multiple local collegiate engineering programs against each other in various challenges, including a hill climb and endurance race with student-piloted go-cart-sized all-terrain vehicles. More than 150 students participated in the event.
This is Grove City College's first time hosting an event of this kind and its first time partnering with SwitchbackMX.
According to Van Ulrich, adviser of the society at Grove City College, the event is reminiscent of ones put on by the national Society of Automotive Engineers. These Baja races require students to assemble their own vehicles and compete in categorized events.
“They can't touch the engine. They're given a 10- horsepower engine,” Ulrich said. “Then it comes down to money and weight. I want it for the lowest cost, and I want it to fly.”According to Ulrich, it can take up to a year and a half to design and assemble a vehicle to be race- ready.The team from Grove City brought three, one of which will be retired after the event. Invited teams from schools such as Purdue University and University of Pittsburgh were required to bring vehicles that previously were inspected for safety regulations. Large crowds lined the track to cheer on the students and their vehicles.Hunter Hughes, vice president of the society and participant in the race, said each student in the society had an assigned role in assembling the vehicles for the track.“Design leaders are mainly seniors,” Hughes said. “They're in charge of the car's design. Then there are project leaders who have different jobs on the car.”Hughes said the event will be a success if all three vehicles are able to finish and run again following the race.
The event began at 11:45 a.m. when racers arrived at SwitchbackMX for the hill-climb event. Drivers pushed their vehicles to the limit up steep, muddy trails. Then teams prepared for the endurance race, a four-hour endeavour where drivers tried to make the most laps around a track. Student pit crews and alternate drivers were prepared on the sidelines to fix vehicles, free them from mud, or take turns driving, as needed.“I've been to plenty of national events where they try to break your car,” Ulrich said. “This (event) started because we thought it'd be fun to rent a track and get local teams together.”Hughes said events such as this are helpful to see how students' mechanical engineering curriculum plays out in real life.“You learn about things like fatigue failure and stress failure on vehicles in class,” Hughes said. “We learn how to build around that during these events.”Ulrich said national Baja events can result in students being offered jobs in the field. He said many alumni who were hired by Honda, Toyota or Ford attended the event as testaments to its importance.“I tell (kids) to bring a resume to the races,” Ulrich said. “It's a steppingstone, that's the reason you come and do it.”
