Autobahn Student Experience

On Thursday, August 4, 2022 Driven to Care and TechForce Foundation hosted a student experience event for 16 students at the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois. This student experience was filled with amazing guest speakers/mentors that included: Joel Weinberger, Owner of Continental AutoSports; Kellan Weinberger, Vintage Sports Car Racer; Kyle Nadeau, Track Manager of the Autobahn Country Club; Hugh Ruthven Owner of the Finish Line; and David Phillips, Curator for a Private Car Collector and Graduate of McPherson College.

Video of photos from event.

Each of the speakers covered a vast array of automotive topics such as: dealership marketing and management; race track support for vintage car races; track operations and curating for private vintage car collectors. The students were interactive with the speakers, asking questions and sharing their own experience in automotive. There were also discussions about the automotive programs at McPherson College and many other schools that offer automotive programs and the overall need for automotive technicians across the entire automotive industry. Students were also taken on a behind-the-scenes tour of Team Stradale operations and garage. Team Stradale specializes in Radical series racing and service while helping their clients achieve their race objectives. After the Team Stradale tour, students headed to the Continental Racing Team Garage to see some of their race cars, cars they are working on and learn about the multi-generation Weinberger race team legacy. The day ended with Hot Laps provided by the Autobahn staff. The students got to experience going around the North Track as passengers in different types of cars (Chevy, Lexus, BMW and Cadillac). Each of the students were able to ride in all the four available cars and make comparisons of the acceleration and control of the vehicles. After the Hot Laps the students enjoyed the finale dinner. The Driven to Care scholarship awardees that were in attendance were given trophies that were won by John Weinberger as a memento to pursue their dreams as he did. The last speaker at the event was Hugh Ruthven, owner of the Finish Line. Hugh gave each student a piece of automobile memorabilia and spoke about the importance of collecting and preserving these items. Hugh showed the students how it’s possible to make a career out of collecting and selling unique automotive memorabilia. Thank you to all of the students, speakers/mentors and the staff at the Autobahn Country Club for making this an amazing student experience.