Overlook The Nice Books, Now You Can Examine The Motorsports Enterprise At This Faculty

Homer and Shakespeare can experience within the again seat at Northwood College in Michigana school that is already closely invested in an auto-industry curriculum. This fall, the varsity is including a motorsports-focused workshop to its catalog, and in fall 2026, a complete class on “Fundamentals of Motorsports” will go stay. From the college’s press launch (hat tip to The Drive for first reporting on this):

“Spanning Method 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, World Rally, MotoGP, World Superbike, AMA Motocross and Supercross, in addition to a number of different racing organizations, the motorsports {industry} is a world enterprise that blends innovation, sponsorship, media, and know-how — and Northwood is uniquely positioned to arrange college students for enterprise roles inside this thrilling sector,” defined Dr. David Oventhal, Subaru of New England Professor of Automotive Technique at Northwood College.

These actually sound like fairly enjoyable courses. Northwood is a faculty that concentrates on getting ready college students for enterprise careers and, being in Michigan, is all-in on automotive. The college already has a Heart for Automotive and Mobility Researchand the brand new motorsports curriculum will be part of a number of established undergraduate packages.

Earlier than you complain that this kind of educational coaching is way too particular, contemplate that the auto {industry} is, effectively, not like different companies. And by “not like,” I imply completely and utterly distinctive. The position of motorsports inside it is only one extra facet of that utter and full uniqueness. It’s going to actually profit, say, firms concerned with IndyCar racing if new graduates can come to roles with some rudimentary understanding of how the enterprise works.

Once I was first uncovered to the auto {industry}’s enterprise facet within the early 2000s, it took me a number of years simply to determine product cycles and the way dealerships have been structured in relation to the massive carmakers. When the monetary disaster hit and your entire {industry} was upended, it will have been good if as a journalist I had possessed higher technical information of how credit score fuels the enterprise. There isn’t a Khan Academy for these items, so if I have been an aspiring automotive scrivener immediately, I would maybe check out Northwood’s choices. However I’d additionally notice that Northwood is extraordinarily devoted to free enterprisegoing as far as to embed the idea in its general identification and pitch to college students, and the varsity has a conservative/libertarian bent.

Northwood is not an enormous title in enterprise training exterior the Midwest, however that is likely to be a bonus right here. Detroit stays the middle of the U.S. auto {industry}. And even in the event you wind up pursuing a profession in some far-flung nook of the globe — maybe as a part of the roving Method 1 circus — if as a collegian you already know that the automobile enterprise is the correct enterprise for you, Northwood’s embrace of sensible training is smart.

I’ve taught enterprise college students at two massive universities, the place college students are usually ready by learning some broad fundamentals. That is nice in case your plan is to pursue entry-level company life or put together for a status MBA, sampling a number of totally different industries alongside the way in which. However in the event you already know that the automobile enterprise is your bag, and moreover in the event you love motorsports however have not the slightest notion of the way it operates, then Northwood’s courses could possibly be your ticket.