6 minute read
Wheels in Motion
IndyCar Grand Prix racing and MTSU's School of Concrete and Construction Management partner where the rubber meets the road
For three days in August, the streets of downtown Nashville are transformed, alive with the distinct, roaring sounds of IndyCar Grand Prix racing, with 100,000 spectators looking on.
The temporary track, or street circuit, weaves past Nissan Stadium (home of the NFL Tennessee Titans), over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge (a new, iconic look for the international sport), and into downtown Nashville.
A global lineup of drivers—including Hendersonville native Josef Newgarden, who won the circuit in 2019, and former NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson—races through the city streets in single-seat cars with 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected, V-6 engines optimized to run at 12,000 RPM, with an estimated 500-700 horsepower (depending on the turbocharger boost setting).
Undergoing a truly visceral experience, fans lining the track feel the power and energy of race cars rush over them along familiar Music City streets more commonly associated with honky-tonks and pedal taverns than Indy cars.
Yes, there is an occasional crash at the new Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. And when it happens, racers strike cushioned concrete barriers made of environmentally conscious mixes developed in partnership with MTSU’s first-of-its-kind Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program—its students, faculty, and alumni.
In the months prior to the event, MTSU concrete experts—including alumni Travis Jarrett (’05) and Frank Bowen (’14) with Jarrett Concrete Products, a precast concrete facility in Ashland City—fill thousands of debris fence panel and concrete barrier molds for the 2.17-mile downtown course layout. Hundreds, filled on site, are used on the bridge alone, installed weeks before the event.
A Grand Advantage
As the home of the first CIM degree program in the country, and still one of a select few, MTSU’s School of Concrete and Construction Management stands as the nation’s flagship concrete industry academic program. It is also a powerhouse in research. Look no further than the recent agreement with the Music City Grand Prix.
Officials from MTSU and the new Music City Grand Prix signed a partnership in November 2020, allowing the University’s acclaimed concrete program and its students to create special mixes for barriers and pit row for the August 2021 open-wheel race in downtown Nashville. The Music City Grand Prix then worked with MTSU to create safe and durable blends of
Senior Cody Gange (l) assists in making an eco-friendly concrete mix as Music City Grand Prix CEO Matt Crews, Professor Heather Brown, lab assistant and senior T.J. Paul (r), and other visitors watch.
concrete using recycled materials and better molds for racing barriers and pit row use in the IndyCar Series event. The agreement also calls for MTSU to provide guidance, insight, and consulting in the areas of concrete barricade forms, barricade manufacturing, emerging concrete technologies, and more, helping reduce the Grand Prix’s manufacturing, construction, transportation, or event setup costs.
MTSU additionally assists the Music City Grand Prix in the review and selection of appropriate and qualified area track suppliers and vendors for the necessary track alterations and construction; helps the Grand Prix pursue applicable grants, subsidies, and other corporate incentives relative to its concrete construction needs; and promotes the race and partnership to industry trade groups.
A Grand Event
The driving force behind the inaugural Music City Grand Prix IndyCar race is also an MTSU alum, Matt Crews (’91).
A businessman with career ties to the racing industry, Crews is the founder and CEO behind the three-day international festival of speed and sound, food, music, and even what Crews calls “star power.” Celebrities connected to the race and its funding include pop superstar Justin Timberlake.
Crews says the race places Nashville, and hopefully MTSU too, “on a true international stage.” Exposure from IndyCar’s 30 broadcast partners in 160 countries shines a bright light on Nashville and MTSU. Crews said he’s thrilled to see such an innovative academic program from his alma mater benefit from that exposure.
“I’m more excited about showing 160 countries what MTSU has accomplished on a daily basis,” Crews said during a recent visit with students. “I think it’s time for us to go racing, Blue Raiders, and look forward to carrying the MTSU mantle to the world.”
Crews, a former MTSU kicker who still shares the school record for most field goals made and points scored in a game, said the racing event has been five years in the making. The Lawrenceburg native played the pivotal role in assembling the group behind the event, featuring businessman, entrepreneur, and ex-IndyCar racer Roger Penske, and in spearheading its partnership with MTSU’s acclaimed Concrete Industry Management program, faculty, and students.
Heather Brown, the former School of Concrete and Construction Management director who is now an adjunct professor, also helped align the partnership from the beginning. Crews specifically noted that Penske, chair/owner of NTT IndyCar Series, was greatly impressed by Brown’s presentation about MTSU’s work on race barricade technology and how that work could help the racing industry going forward. As a result, Brown is now on the Music City Grand Prix Advisory Board.
A Grand Opportunity
Brown stressed that the partnership creates hands-on learning experiences for MTSU’s Concrete Industry Management students through internships and networking through the material science program.
“This partnership will create advanced learning experiences for students and expand our manufacturing relationships,” Brown said. “Experiential learning is what MTSU works hard to bring to their students, and it wouldn’t be possible without Music City Grand Prix’s commitment to local institutions as well as STEM education and the trades.”
CIM major Chase Magerison, an Alaska native who graduated in December 2020, said he is appreciative of the unique opportunity the Music City Grand Prix provides MTSU students.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for us as students to get some real hands-on experience in making more advanced mixes for a precast company, which is not something we typically do” he said. “And the concrete program in general . . . [does] a great job of getting us out there for experiences and jobs.”
The Music City Grand Prix has agreed to offer a minimum of two internships to qualified and approved MTSU undergraduate students per year, helping them gain experience in the areas of track design and construction project management and event operations. The race also will provide MTSU and the program with significant branding and promotion before and during each race weekend.
Crews said he hopes to build a stronger relationship between IndyCar and MTSU going forward. The Grand Prix partnership definitely sets those wheels in motion.
A Grand (New) Home
Gov. Bill Lee provided funding in the state’s 2020 budget for a new $40.1 million building to house MTSU’s School of Concrete and Construction Management, and a groundbreaking was held in April 2021. The architect for the project, located on the east side of campus, is Orcutt | Winslow. To make room for the 54,000-square-foot building, Abernathy and Ezell halls, which served as dormitories more than 20 years ago, were torn down.
The new lab and classroom building is expected to be finished in August 2022 and will feature examples in its construction of the many ways concrete can be used.
Concrete industry supporters, working with MTSU officials, are contributing more than $5 million toward the construction of the building.
