Greater Racing students take a victory lap at Purdue's Fall Classic
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Greater Racing students take a victory lap at Purdue's Fall Classic
Students from the Greater Lafayette Career Academy (GLCA) took first and second place at the Fall Classic at Purdue University's Grand Prix Track on Tuesday, Sept. 29, racing electric karts they helped test, tune and prepare themselves.
The Fall Classic, part of the evGrandPrix Championship, drew 25 karts from more than a dozen different Indiana high schools. Kenny Halpin, a Harrison High School senior, drove the No. 11 kart to victory for Greater Racing. Teammate Keelen Red Elk, a Harrison senior, brought the No. 01 kart home in second.
The team nearly added a third podium finish. McCutcheon High School senior Jack Rose, driving the No. 00 kart, set the fastest pace of the three Greater Racing karts and was charging toward the leaders when a mechanical failure ended his race.
In the weeks before race day, students tested the karts over multiple sessions and collected data on battery performance, energy consumption, gearing, controller settings, kart setup and driver performance. They used what they learned to build race setups that balanced speed with the energy efficiency needed to finish the full distance.
It worked. The No. 11 and No. 01 karts finished the race without battery or setup issues.
"The racetrack is more than a place to compete. It's an extension of the classroom,” says Motorsports instructor Craig Locker. "Students applied engineering principles, analyzed data, diagnosed problems, made decisions based on evidence and worked as a team, then watched the results play out on the track.”
The team will take what it learned and keep building its electric racing program as students prepare for future competitions.
About Greater Racing
Greater Racing is the student motorsports program at the Greater Lafayette Career Academy in Lafayette, Indiana. Through hands-on automotive and motorsports projects, students put classroom learning to work on challenges in engineering, fabrication, vehicle setup, data analysis, teamwork, problem-solving and competition.
