ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, March 10, 1997                 TAG: 9703120027
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: B-7  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: KANNAPOLIS, N.C.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUTO RACING CAN BE A REAL EDUCATION IN N.C. COLLEGES OFFERING CURRICULUM

Enthusiasts can turn their love of the sport into something more.

Two community colleges in the heart of NASCAR country will become the first in North Carolina to offer degrees in motorsports management and marketing.

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury and Mitchell Community College in Statesville are working together to start a two-year degree program.

Racing industry executives say the timing couldn't be better.

``Motorsports is the fastest growing new industry in North Carolina,'' said H.A. ``Humpy'' Wheeler, president of Speedway Motorsports, which owns Charlotte Motor Speedway and other racing properties. ``And we need what the textile industry did in the 1890s - management.''

Wheeler helped convince college officials of the need for a degree program.

``We wanted to see if there would be jobs available for people who completed this program, and we found that there was significant interest by the local industry,'' said Carl Squires, dean of industrial and engineering technologies at Rowan-Cabarrus.

Participants in the program will take courses in human relations, advertising and math.

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