DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Ten students were honored at Madison International Speedway, an ASA Member Track in Oregon, WI, for their participation in the ASA - Student Educational Series by receiving scholarships to Ohio Technical College. $90,000 in scholarships were handed out to the students who will be starting classes at Ohio Technical College, 2009 School of the Year, within the next two months.
The students spent this summer participating on a race team that competes weekly at Madison International Speedway. Some participated as a driver and some were part of a pit crew. Along with the team performance on the track, students also had to keep a log book of what they were doing throughout the summer and submit an essay at the beginning of what they hoped to gain and another essay at the end reviewing what they learned from the experience.
Larry Pond, National Director of the ASA - Student Educational Series, Randy Dziadowicz, OTC National Coordinator, and Dave Grueneberg, Madison International Speedway Track Manager presented the awards to the students during the intermission.
Vern Fagerberg Jr. of Bloomington, IL received Track Manager Award in which he received at $20,000 scholarship to OTC. Fagerberg drives in the weekly Late Model division at MIS. "Oh man, I was ecstatic," Fagerberg said. "It's great that Dave (Grueneberg, MIS Track Manager) did that and everyone at ASA for helping me out. As we talked many times I wasn't even planning on going to school and now they are basically paying for all of my school and now I am going to be going down there. This leaves extra money for us to come back here to MIS next year and compete with a little bit better car."
Fagerberg starts classes in October and will be majoring in High Performance & Racing Technology.
Allan Braatz of Sun Prairie, WI; Andrew Simon of Sun Prairie, WI; John Degrazio of Colgate, WI; and Chris Swayze, East Troy, WI each received a $10,000 scholarship.
"It was pretty cool. I felt like I won the lottery but for school," Braatz said. "It's an awesome school, I wouldn't go to any other school besides Ohio Technical College."
"It was amazing, I couldn't have expected anything less. So exciting, so surprised, it's awesome," Simon said. "The campus is amazing, one of the best automotive schools around."
Two of the students will start taking classes on August 23rd while the remainder will start on October 4th.
"This was an exciting evening, and it was an honor to present these scholarship to these fabulous students," Larry Pond, ASA - Student Educational Series National Director said. "The students are proud of their efforts and the parents are very proud with the hard work and the accomplishment they gained from the program."
"On behalf of the American Speed Association, we would like to congratulate the students on this great accomplishment," Dennis Huth, ASA President said. "They are going to what I feel is the best automotive school in the United States, Ohio Technical College. We wish you the best and look forward to hearing about your future successes."
The ASA - Student Educational Series will be awarding another set of scholarships on Saturday, August 7th at Dells Raceway Park, an ASA Member Track in Wisconsin Dells, WI during the intermission of their racing program.
The ASA - Student Educational Series is co-sponsored by ASA-Racing and Ohio Technical College, the 2009 #1 rated technical college in the US. For more information on the program, go to www.asa-racing.com and click on the ASA Educational Series link on the right side of the ASA Racing home page.
Students interested in being a part of this program should contact Larry Pond, National Director, at lpond@asaeducationalseries.com or (480) 861-8108 or Randy Dziadowicz, OTC National Coordinator at (414) 339-9586 or rdziadowicz1@wi.rr.com.
For more information about Ohio Technical College, please visit www.ohiotechnicalcollege.com.
ASA®, ASA Racing®, American Speed Association® are registered trademarks of Racing Speed Associates, LLC. ASA International, LLC or Racing Speed Associates, LLC are not related to or affiliated with ASA Late Model Series.
(Name, Hometown, Major, School Start Date, Scholarship amount)
Vern Fagerberg, Jr., Bloomington, IL, High Performance & Racing Technology, October 2010, $20,000
Allan Braatz, Sun Prairie, WI, High Performance & Racing Technology, October 2010, $10,000
Andrew Simon, Sun Prairie, WI, Auto-Diesel Technology, October 2010, $10,000
Chris Swayze, East Troy, WI, Classic Car Restoration Technology, October 2010, $10,000
John Degrazio, Colgate, WI, Auto-Diesel Technology with Alternative Fuels, October 2010, $10,000
Nate Ostrowsky, Fort Atkinson, WI, Classic Car Restoration Technology, October 2010, $7,500
Daren Wittman, New Glarus, WI, Complete Auto Tech-Street Perfomance & Alternative Fules, August 2010, $7,500
Shane Kuntzsch, Sussex, WI, Auto-Diesel Technology with Alternative Fuels, October 2010, $7,500
Andrew Burt, Janesville, WI, Diesel Technology, August 2010, $5,000
Max McNamera, Ingleside, IL, High Performance & Racing Technology, $2,500
