Graduate Track: School To Offer Motorsports Management Major

BELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE (BAC) near Charlotte, North Carolina, unveiled a four-year bachelor’s degree in Motorsports Management, the first program of its kind in the U.S. While similar programs concentrate on technical aspects of the industry and are engineering-based, this will be the first with an emphasis on business. The program will include specific courses in sports marketing, racing management, team management and motorsports fundamentals. Students will complete internships in each of the three main areas of the industry -– track operations, race teams and support operations (BAC). BAC Business Department Chair PHILIP BAYSTER said that the classes will be taught by “people in the industry and one or two faculty members yet to be hired.” Bayster added that students “will be able to participate in race events and work at Lowe’s Motor Speedway [LMS] before then.” Speedway Motorsports Inc. President & COO HUMPY WHEELER said, “The problem we have in NASCAR today isn’t on the technical side. It’s furnishing competent management.” LMS is one of BAC’s partners in the program (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/26).