The 2016 Genius Garage participants pose for a promo photo. All images courtesy geniusgarageracing.com. Words: Mike Aguilar.
Three years ago, Casey Putsch saw a need and decided to fill it. That need was to give hands-on experience in the racing world to college students. Mr. Putsch realized that book learning only goes so far in giving a student the tools needed to compete in the job market to get onto a racing team. He called the fruit of his vision “Genius Garage.” The program allows students to show employers what they’re capable of beyond just a resume. It gives them real world experience that they can’t get in any classroom.
What Genius Garage Does for Students Looking for Race Team Jobs
Students at an informal class session with a mentor.
According to Putsch, he wanted to give students an advantage over other job seekers looking to get onto a race team. Genius Garage operates Spring and Summer and students get to “literally do everything except drive the car,” according to Putsch.
“Long story short, it takes their resume from the bottom of the pile and puts it at the top," he said. "School is great, but with this they get to put their hands on something. They get to come together as a team with their peers and do something incredible.”
Work begins on the SVRA 1988 Corvette GTO the students built for competition..
A couple of years ago, participants in the program built a 1988 Corvette GTO race car and entered it in races at Mid_Ohio Sports Car Course and Indianapolis with the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association. Program members did all the work on the car, while a professional driver drove it.
Students work on the Corvette at the track.
Program participant Ryan Beagle, a mechanical engineering major at the University of Toledo, was part of the program’s Corvette GTO program.
“That was experience and value that no classes could ever give us, and in any future interviews I have for co-ops or jobs, that will be completely invaluable,” he said.
Students pose with one of the professional drivers who mentors for the program and drives the car in competition.
In its three year history, the program has been very successful. It has been credited with helping participants get jobs and internships, as well as scholarship attention and placement. The leaders of the program are hoping to be able to branch out from a strictly automotive racing format to embrace aircraft/aviation and hydroplane racing in the near future. They also hope to be able to include more high school age students, as well as younger students.
From Whom do Genius Garage Participants Learn?
Pre-race adjustments to the SVRA 1988 Corvette GTO the students built.
The list of mentors for those participating in the program is long and distinguished. These are people who volunteer to give the students the benefit of their long experience, allowing those students to have a more rounded educational experience than they otherwise would - something that almost allows them to “write their own tickets” when they go out on the job market.
Students pose at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with program mentors and driver.
Since the program is mostly geared toward the worlds of automotive racing, the mentor list starts out with accomplished drivers and engineers. There are also distinguished fighter pilots. A number of professional athletes have given of their time, as well as CEOs of large companies and members of Interpol. A Chief of Staff to the late Sir Winston Churchill also mentors in the program. Casey Putsch, an entrepreneur and noted philanthropist and racing driver, also known for his automotive creations, created the program as mentioned above.
Who Are the Students In the Program?
Students and mentors pose together at the track.
Program participants come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines - music, fine arts, engineering, journalism, business... The only thing that ties them all together is they are the brightest and most driven students out of those who apply for a slot in the program. Students are both high school and college aged.
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