SanSan Ly, a senior at Martin High School, loves everything motorsports. So, she was really excited about the field trip she and 40 Arlington ISD high school students took to the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington yesterday.
But it was more than just a chance to see racecars for the aspiring engineer.
“It gave me really good insight behind the scenes,” Ly said.
She was really impressed by the logistics.
“I didn’t know that they had a whole team for every section,” she said.
That was exactly the point of the field trip – an opportunity for students to see the many career opportunities that go into motorsports.
“We think it’s a great opportunity for younger people to come out and experience the NTT IndyCar series, learn about motorsports, but also see what all the different careers are out here in motor sports,” said Bill Miller, president and general manager of the inaugural Java Grand Prix of Arlington. “Whether it’s promotions – like we have helping sponsors – whether you want to go into engineering, which is working on racecars, whether you want to go into public relations, which is working with the media out here, you can see all kind of different things. If you’re into the arts, you can see all of the graphics that we put around here of how you portray the event and make something very exciting and very enjoyable.”
The graphics were what stood out to Bowie High School senior Nathan Minnieweather.
“I do graphic design,” Minnieweather said. “I lean toward how things are presented. I’m happy that we got this opportunity not only to see cars and F1 cars but also see how they build an entire event for an entire city.”
During the visit, students got a behind-the-scenes look at many of the moving parts that make a major sporting event possible.
The tour began in the activation space, where students learned about the logistics of setting up the race and coordinating partners and sponsors. From there, they visited the media center to hear how public relations and marketing teams work with reporters and broadcasters to tell the story of the race.
Students also stopped by the medical trailers to learn about safety operations before continuing on to the hospitality areas and finally the event’s operations and management headquarters.
At every stop, professionals shared how their roles contribute to bringing the race to life – from engineering and design to communications, event management, and health services.
For students like Ly and Minnieweather, the experience helped connect classroom learning with real-world careers. Seeing the massive coordination required to run the event showed students that motorsports is about much more than what happens on the track. It’s also about the hundreds of people behind the scenes with many different kinds of careers who make the event possible.
Students, start you engines!