Learning to drive is a rite of passage for high school students. Driver’s education classes and age requirements are the only roadblocks standing in the way. For students on Santa Maria High School’s drag racing team, however, learning to drive is only the beginning.
The team’s classroom is a big, concrete auto shop situated on the northwest corner of the campus, where the SMHS racing team is gearing up for their 2015 season.
The Saint’s racing team is working on a 1974 Mercury Comet that will compete at the professional level when the season begins in April.
“We don’t race against other high schools,” the team’s instructor Art Foster said. “We race against the big boys.”
Right now the Saints’ supercharged beauty is at Allan Hancock College getting a new paint job. Because of its success, the team has attracted major sponsors. Most recently, the company Indy Cylinder Heads donated a $1,400 blower manifold to the team.
SMHS Racing is the only school team in the United States to have qualified at four national racing events right alongside professional racers, Foster said.
Three years ago, the team took second place at the Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield. After blowing an engine, the team was unable to compete in the final round.
In 2008, they were the No. 3 qualifier at the Nostalgia Eliminator I March Meet, where more than 70 cars competed for the fastest 32 spots.
When the team’s name was called, the whole track stood up and applauded, Foster said.
“It’s not a rivalry,” Foster said. “It’s above all that.”
Students don’t drive, but they’re in the pit crew checking tire pressures and swapping out alternators. During a race, a former SMHS student sits behind the wheel. In 2008, it was Foster’s son AJ who drove the team to third place.
Team members meet twice a week after school to talk about cars, engines, fundraising, and how to go fast. This year’s team is made up of 17 students, which is the largest group the school’s ever had. When the team started in 2007, there were only five students on it.
For some team members, their passion extends beyond the meetings. Chris Sulce is a sophomore in his second year on the team and, he finds himself thinking about racing whenever there’s a spare moment, he said. Most days he gets home late because he stays after school to work in the shop. And when he’s finished with his homework, he’s thinking about racing.
Before joining the team he was hanging out with a bad crowd and heading down the wrong road, but the racing team helped him get back on track, Sulce said.
“After joining this team I decided that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” the 15-year-old said. “There’s nothing about it I don’t like.”
Katrina Torres is another sophomore on the team. She became interested in joining because her older brother went through the program six years before her.
She remembers him coming home from school excited, and she would tag along to the team’s fundraising events.
“It’s a privilege to be on the team,” Torres said.
When she talks to other girls about being on the team, they tell her that learning about cars is only for boys. She has a different opinion.
“You should be independent,” she said. “You should know what you’re driving.”
Not just any student can join the team. Members have to maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average, as well as show a certain level of automotive aptitude.
Foster finds students with the mechanical skills he’s looking for through the automotive classes he teaches. The team’s popularity is growing, and more and more students want to join. Foster had to turn down 50 of the students who applied this year.
The team will play host to its annual car show fundraiser in February. Cars come from as far as Palm Springs to show their support.
Foster took members of the team down to Pomona for the 50th Annual Auto Club National Hot Rod Association Finals on Nov. 14.
Along with working on dragsters, the team also works on the district’s vehicles. Currently in the shop, one of district’s utility trucks sits two feet off the ground in need of repair.
Foster’s students also help local organizations at their events. At the last Cruisin’ for Life, SMHS race team members helped throw out the garbage, set up tables, and take down tents.
“If you set the bar high enough for our young kids, they’ll meet it,” Foster said. “You’ve got to change one kid at a time and that kid will change a whole bunch of others.”
Contact Staff Writer Aaron Salazar at asalazar@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 3, 2014.