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Andrew Baker

Lecturer in Geography

Every May, the howl of engines commences less than four miles from the IUPUI campus. How the Indianapolis 500 has changed—and changed Indianapolis—in its 100 years is just one of the topics geography lecturer Andrew Baker will cover in this fall's Z100 Motorsports Studies course.

The course is a cornerstone of Motorsport Studies Certificate program in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. The program's broad curriculum allows students to examine motorsports from a variety of perspectives, including liberal arts, business, journalism, and tourism management. The introductory course is also diverse, and students will learn of the history of motorsports, women in motorsports, race and ethnicity and motorsports, and the economics of motorsports.

While the beer-soaked stands of a NASCAR event may not seem the most likely place for a geographer, Baker finds that there is more to study than just the antics of fans and drivers. His master's thesis, "When the Engines No Longer Roar", is an examination of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the "moonshine capital of America" and home to one of the original NASCAR tracks. Legend and tradition surround the bootleggers who established the sport. NASCAR races put the town on the map and when the speedway in North Wilkesboro shut down the town was devastated.

"Looking at economic loss is fairly easy," says Baker. "Understanding cultural loss is much harder."

Baker's class, and the Motorsports Studies curriculum, compliments the School of Engineering Motorsports Engineering Program. He explains, "There are around fifteen members on a top-level racing team—six of them are engineers. Then you have your PR person, the event manager, and the web design guy. The engineering students are great in science and math but are not necessarily trained in communication, business, and marketing. We want to bridge that gap and prepare others to enter the industry."

There are what he calls the high-speed, "Gee Whiz!" components that sell the sport and the equally important "So what?" aspect to consider. "Motorsport is an exciting entertainment industry, just like any other sport. However, motorsport also addresses the 'so what' question as racing competition often stimulates new automotive technologies that are used in future passenger cars."

Baker says that people also need to investigate the origins of the sport and study its social and cultural effects to fully understand its place in modern life. He gives this example, "From a gender perspective, motorsport presents an interesting contradiction. No other major sport involves women competing head-to-head with men, yet trackside, one sees bikini-clad 'grid girls,' illuminating a long-standing history of racing's objectification of women."

Dr. Robert White, a sociology professor at IUPUI and the director of motorsports studies, adds that the motorsports program does not confine itself simply to automobile racing. Motorsports includes unlimited hydroplanes, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and other forms of racing. "We want to introduce students to the breadth of an industry that is very multifaceted. The influence [of racing] on Indiana and Indianapolis is tremendous and we feel it is appropriate to tap into that."

As a geographer, Baker thrills at showing students how his discipline stretches well beyond expected and into fields like motorsports, where location is indeed everything.

--Chris Probasco
Liberal Arts News Bureau

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