{"id":34886,"date":"2017-01-12T07:43:56","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T15:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=34886"},"modified":"2017-01-12T07:44:17","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T15:44:17","slug":"kn-west-team-goes-back-to-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/kn-west-team-goes-back-to-school\/","title":{"rendered":"K&N West Team Goes Back to School"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"K&N
A group of students from Monte Vista Christian School got hands-on with a NASCAR K&N West Pro Series car recently. Images from screen captures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What would you have given to have a NASCAR racing team come to your high school to teach you and give you pointers about racing in NASCAR? Monte Vista Christian (MVC) School recently played host to NASCAR K&N West tour team Central Coast Racing and driver Todd Souza. Every January, the school has what head master Steve Sharp calls Jan-Term. Jan-Term is a week-long exercise for sophomores through seniors. Teachers use their hobbies and interests to continue their students\u2019 education outside the classroom, giving the students life lessons and experiences they wouldn\u2019t otherwise have.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR K&N West Team of Todd Souza Teach Students about NASCAR Cars<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the students at MVC would never have a chance or the desire to get up close and personal with a NASCAR race car and team. Driver Todd Souza<\/a> brought a road course and oval track car to the school to show the students the differences in how cars for the two types of track are built. They also got to learn firsthand about NASCAR safety rules. Student Ivan Luna Romo got to buckle into one of the cars, put on Souza\u2019s helmet, and see what wearing his HANS (Head and Neck Safety System) device felt like.<\/p>\n

\"K&N
NASCAR K&N West Pro Series driver Todd Souza talks with videographer Darren McGinnis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As well as learning the differences in how a road course car and an oval track car are built, the students are told about the safety requirements and then shown how those requirements are built into the car and incorporated into the driver\u2019s safety equipment. Souza\u2019s racing team also gave the students an up close and personal look at the differences in how a race car and a street legal car are fabricated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Experience Is Fun for Teachers and Students Alike<\/strong><\/p>\n

Romo, a junior at the school, said, \u201cI\u2019ve never been to a NASCAR race, so to sit in the seat all buckled up is a pretty special feeling. The practical application of physics and engineering is pretty cool. As far as this Jan-Term class, I really like it. I\u2019ve never worked on cars before. But after a few days of hands-on activity of changing parts around, well, I\u2019m feeling more comfortable about working on cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"K&N
Students learned race car engineering subtleties, such as the fact that the oil pump has to be primed before the engine can be started.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Allie Faulk, a professor of engineering and physics at the school as well as an alumna, said, “The students experience the basics of car repair and racing in our week-long classes. We\u2019ll close the week with the techniques of race car driving at the Le Mons indoor karting facility in Fremont. What the students learn in the classroom becomes real and practical\u2026 And sometimes entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Nick Arroya also had a great time and found a new appreciation for NASCAR racing as well. He said, \u201cThis is just a cool time to expand your mind on things I wouldn\u2019t think about doing. It gives me a new perspective on racing. I\u2019ve never been to a NASCAR race, but after what we\u2019ve learned today, going to a race is the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"K&N<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About MVC<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monte Vista Christian School<\/a> prides itself on being the premiere college prep schools on California\u2019s Central Coast. The school has been providing top-notch education to area students for the last 90 ninety years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Todd Souza<\/strong><\/p>\n

Souza got his start in racing at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, where the school is located, in 1983. In 1984 he won the state championship, as well as Rookie of the Year honors in the Street Stock Division.\u00a0 He has driven Street Stock, dirt late model and modified. He also has a Rookie of the Year title in late model stock cars. In 2000, he moved up into NASCAR\u2019s Southwest Tour division, again winning Rookie of the Year honors. These days he runs a limited schedule in the NASCAR K&N West Series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monte Vista Christian (MVC) School recently played host to NASCAR K&N West tour team Central Coast Racing and driver Todd Souza.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":34888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3424,3470],"tags":[1074,127,41,5113],"class_list":["post-34886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","category-news","tag-mike-aguilar","tag-nascar","tag-news","tag-todd-souza"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Student-Group.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-94G","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34891,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34886\/revisions\/34891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}