UNOH Grad Frankart Makes the Most of his UNOH Education

Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2017

UNOH graduate Austin Frankart at the 2017 NASCAR Awards Banquet

Austin Frankart always knew he wanted to work for a top NASCAR team.  In High School, he was able to tour the University of Northwestern Ohio campus and instantly knew where he wanted to go to college. “I heard of the high performance motorsports program and knew it was the best in the country,” said Frankart.  “When I saw the campus and saw what the high performance motorsports program entailed, I knew it was for me.”

Frankart credits the connections he made while he was a student for getting him to where he is now, serving as a mechanic for Furniture Row Racing, home of the 2017 NASCAR Championship driver Martin Truex Jr.   Frankart says, “Even though I graduated back in 2014, I know I can always reach out to my former instructors for advice or for answers to any questions I may have.” 

While at UNOH, Frankart was a 3-year member of the UNOH Motorsports Team serving as a crew member for the #1 modified car driven by Joel Ortberg. “Being on the team enabled me to reinforce knowledge and skills that I learned in the classroom and out in the shop.  Plus working on UMP stock cars and UMP modified every day gave me an understanding of what it would be like to work for a professional race team.”

Besides his work on the motorsports team, Frankart credits his instructors for showing him what it takes to make it in NASCAR. “From chassis design philosophies to understanding the building blocks for mechanical setups for race cars, the instructors that I had in the High Performance Motorsports program were giving me the skills I needed to be successful.”

When asked about what advice he had for future or current students at the University, it was simple, “This industry only accepts the best of the best, period.  The ability of going that extra mile and giving 110% effort is demanded of you on a daily basis. Fortunately, you WILL learn all of this at UNOH, plus you’ll have the honor of receiving the best education when it comes to high performance motorsports.”

Frankart doesn’t just believe that, he knows it to be true.  Some of his fellow UNOH graduates are making it big in the industry too, working at places like Rottler Machining, Team Penske, Richard Childress Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Revelation Racing.   Frankart says no goal is ever out of reach, “If you work hard and apply yourself in the classroom and in the shop, big results will follow.”

Frankart graduated with an Associate’s Degree in High Performance Motorsports/Automotive Technology in February 2014.  He now resides in Denver, Colorado with his wife Stephanie.

Category: Applied Technologies

Keywords: High Performance Motorsports, Alumni, NASCAR