The growl of engines, the tart scent of motor oil and the heat waves pulsing off of the hot asphalt set the scene for a perfect race day

While there are no grandstands filled with screaming fans here at Georgia Southern, for those who still have a burning passion for all things race related, Eagle Motorsports may be a perfect fit.

This team participates in both off and on road races during the spring, using vehicles they spend the remainder of the year building themselves.

“There are usually three official competitions hosted by the Society of Automotive Engineers each year. But often, teams from other colleges will travel to other locations, to have separate event,” said Michael Santangelo, senior electrical engineering major and captain of the EMS off-road vehicle Baja.

There are off-road and on-road vehicle teams that consist of multiple team members specializing in specific parts of the vehicle.

“There’s a team captain and then separate divisions that are responsible for different parts of the car, such as an electrical team, one that focuses on the frame of the car, suspension, drive controls, so on and so forth,” Santangelo said.

Although racing is a huge part of the competitions, there are many other categories that the collegiate teams must fulfill, such as manufacturability, structural integrity, performance, cost efficiency and many more.

“We really aim to try and make our cars as cost efficient and manufacturable as possible. We usually take a design that worked well in previous years and start finding areas where we can make cuts and sacrifices, without sacrificing the overall quality of the vehicle,” Santangelo said.

While this may all sound very difficult, Michael assures that while many students are science and math majors, it is by no means a requirement to join the team.

“We have had graphic design majors that have helped us with design and website stuff, as well as public relations majors that helped us promote events,” he said.

He encourages anyone that’s interested to complete an application, when they re-open in the Spring.