The future of hot rodding is in good hands at the University of Northwestern Ohio

Around the PHR digs, September means Engine Masters Challenge time. In the three previous years (2004, 2005, & 2006), we flew into Long Island to run our gig at World Products. The staff at World is professional and very efficient, but our new venue for 2007, the University of Northwestern Ohio, provided us with a largely student staff, and they were positively over the top. From day one, all of us were impressed with the work ethic, professionalism, and courtesy of the UNOH students.

When I was there, I kept thinking, where was this place when I was going to school? I would’ve had a blast at a place like this. And I could tell the students were having a blast too. They were always having so much fun in the performance of their duties at the EMC. Even the UNOH staff got into the action, and by the middle of the week, we were clowning around like a bunch of kids at camp (at the appropriate time, of course). The first shot you see here is a group portrait I took of the UNOH students working with our EMC competition. But wouldn’t you know it, these guys were cutting up unbeknownst to me. While I was laying on the ground getting the shot, sneaking up behind me was Todd Van Slyck—UNOH’s multi-media coordinator. (Why is everybody laughing at me? I thought.) He nabbed the second shot of me on the ground, then doctored it up to look like a crime scene. Then next day, Todd presented me with the photo, and I hung it up in the makeshift studio I was using at UNOH. It now resides on my office wall, for all to see.

I guess you could say Todd’s photo pretty much sums up the fun-loving attitude of the students and staff at UNOH. Want more proof? The staff parking lot even has a concrete burnout box, launch pad, and 100-ft. drag strip. (Check out the third photo for a sample.) When I was in college, I got a moving violation—not for doing a burnout in the parking lot—but for driving around a speed bump. Wow, how things have changed since 1982. All I can say is that the future of hot rodding is in good hands with a school like UNOH!