Start Your Engines

Industrial Technology's Bulldog Racing has built a race car that it has raced on a national stage in Detroit

By Tim Sturtridge

The members of Fresno State’s car racing team, Bulldog Racing, have a strong desire to burn rubber. That’s why, when they build their new race car, they will be looking to smash records with breakneck speed.

The new model is still in the design stage, constantly being tinkered with for optimum power and pace. The members of Bulldog Racing are confident they will be able to improve on last season’s impressive showing at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit and are striving for perfection.

The meeting in Detroit is the eagerly anticipated showpiece event for college-built race cars. Even though Bulldog Racing must wait until May to participate, the event is still providing a massive buzz over at the Industrial Technology building.

In the parking lot of the Pontiac Silverdome six months ago, Bulldog Racing team member Kevin O’Leary felt the adrenaline rush of driving faster than 120 mph in the vehicle he had helped build.

“ I got the car up to 120 mph and I was only an inch off the ground. I was really feeling the effect of speed,” O’Leary said. “We put a Honda CVR motorcycle engine in there and we kept it light so we’re easily as fast as the bike.”

O’Leary, a senior in industrial technology, said the event provided much more than an opportunity to break speed limits. It was also very beneficial to all 12 members of the Bulldog Racing team because the event attracts top manufacturers.

“ Ford, Honda, Chrysler, Dodge and the rest were all there. Representatives came around and looked over the car,” O’Leary said.

The teams in Detroit were judged on a 21-lap endurance race, an acceleration (drag) race and a sales presentation.

Bulldog Racing finished 76 in a field of 140 last year, a remarkable feat considering they had to raise money to build the car through private sponsorship. Many of the university’s teams against which Bulldog Racing competed regularly have budgets of over a quarter of a million dollars. This season Bulldog Racing main sponsors are Sunrise Medical and Exxon Gasoline.

The team attends race meetings locally throughout the school year. Bulldog Racing, under the direction of professor Clift Cullen, regularly competes at Sports Car Club of America meets in Atwater, Calif.