Motorsports at UC Davis

Pathways and Careers in Motorsports at UC Davis, May 23rd

 

This quarter we will be hosting a panel with 3 individuals who have made careers for themselves in motorsports, one of which was a UC Davis alumnus himself! Each has decades in racing, engineering, and fabricating, and will share their journey into motorsports. Have a burning question? Ask below in the sign up form! From fabricating the roll cages of LeMons, telemetry on shifter Karts, to the flat-out curve of Le Mans' Eu Rouge, our group has done it all!

Our event will be from 12:00-2:00 PM, Friday May 23rd, at the Diane Bryant Engineering Student Design Center. Please sign up here and be eligible for raffle prizes. Refreshments will be provided. 

Sign Up Now!

Directions to the ESDC:

Put Visitor Parking Lot 47 into Google Maps/Waze/Apple Maps and then follow the path below to get to the event:

miata
Walking Directions to the ESDC
Read below for more information on our speakers and their background!

Tommy Lo

A true grassroots racer, he has been competing in Spec Miatas since 2003, around the time the series surged in popularity. He has raced in the prestigious Mazda Race of NASA Champions and now leads the NorCal Spec Miata region for NASA (National Auto Sport Association). Tommy Lo is a proud Alumni of UC Davis, and is one of the original founders of the Formula SAE team here at UC Davis which continues our motorsports heritage. He can tell you all about his journey from Engineering here at UC Davis to how he got into his successful motorsports career today.

Read more about Tommy in this interview about Spec Miata.

Tommy now works as the Executive Manager of Northrup Grumman's naval division.

Tommy Lo Spec Miata First place
John Pagel Photo

John Pagel

24 Hours of LeMons (yes, Lemons, not Le Mans)! Budget builds, wild engine swaps, and a DIY spirit create some of the most fun, entry-level racing around. John serves as the Lead Technical Inspector for LeMons, overseeing safety compliance for all vehicles entered. He has a wealth of hands on experience designing and fabricating race cars with his own company Evil Geniuses Racing. 

Learn more about John Pagel in this interview.

Mike Guasch

Mike Guasch has an impressively long track record in motorsports. Starting in Formula Mazda, he would work his way through GT3 and go on to win notable titles like the 24 Hours of Daytona, three 12 Hours at Sebring titles, and finally a win in the 2016 European Le Mans series. Guasch would come back from a successful career in motorsports to start his own karting team, who will come to show off their data analytics and improvement space. Mike also starred in a movie called "Gentleman Drive", which goes through his life as a race car driver.

Learn more about Mike Guasch here.
 

Mike Guasch Winning ELMS