Motorsports History at UNC Charlotte

Early Days

Motorsports at Charlotte in an official capacity began to take shape in the early 1990s. In 1994, the first Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Ryan Zeck as he took a ride in the convertible pace car prior to the NASCAR Winston Select All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

**Bob Johnson, in the car, with Ryan Zeck, two leading figures in the creation of the Automotive and Motorsports Engineering program at Charlotte.**

**Alan Kulwicki: Engineer & 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion. Kulwicki’s promising career was tragically cut short when he passed away in a plane crash in April of 1993.**

**Thanks to R.J. Reynolds, Kulwicki Scholarship winners were treated to much fanfare at Charlotte Motor Speedway.**

**Testing the FSAE formula car in 1997.**

Legends Racing

Thanks to Charlotte Motor Speedway President Humpy Wheeler establishing the Inter-Collegiate Auto Racing Association in 1998 for Legends cars, Charlotte students had a chance to experience real wheel-to-wheel racing. Competing mostly against other schools from the Southeast in 5/8 size classic stockcars on some of the nation’s most famous short tracks, 49ers Racing was able to wrap up 5 straight national championships from 1998-2002, when the championship folded. 49ers Racing has since been active in Legends racing periodically.

**The #49 leads the pack at Charlotte Motor Speedway.**

a new millennium

2002: Charlotte finishes 5th out of 125 entrants at FSAE Michigan at the Pontiac Silverdome.

2006: Charlotte finishes 11th out of 65 entrants at Mini Baja East held at Auburn University in Alabama and opens the purpose-built Motorsports Engineering Laboratory allowing 49ers Racing to move out of a small lab in the Smith Building.

2008: 49ers Racing partners with Central Piedmont Community College to run at FSAE Michigan.

**Charlotte’s 2006 challenger after taking some of the off-road punishment SAE Baja has to offer.**

**The 2001 car, seen here, helped lay the foundations for 49ers Racing’s best FSAE result to date.**

**The Charlotte/CPCC team at Michigan International Speedway, this effort would place 74th.**

Charlotte Rising

2009: Thanks in part to a generous donation from the Kulwicki Foundation, Charlotte changes the name of the motorsports lab to the “Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory” in honor of “Special K”.

2012: Charlotte opens the Motorsports Research Building, including a wind tunnel, alternative propulsion dynamometer, and computer labs among other cutting-edge research equipment.

2018: 49ers Racing builds its first car with a full aerodynamic kit.

2022: After returning after a 4 year “sabbatical” 49ers Racing places 25th