Baja SAE team proves resilient at New York competition

The Penn College team didn’t meet its top-10 standard in the endurance race at Baja SAE New York, but their leader returned to campus proud of the students’ resiliency and optimistic about the future.

Despite numerous mishaps throughout the four-hour race, the team completed 34 laps and finished 41st out of 85 cars in the premier event at Baja SAE competitions. Baja SAE requires teams to spend months designing and building a single-seat all-terrain vehicle to withstand several tests that challenge the students’ ingenuity and the car’s quality.

Since 2011, Penn College has recorded 16 top-10 results in the endurance race.

“I was really impressed with how well the team worked together during the race to get the car back out there,” said John G. Upcraft, instructor of manufacturing and machining and faculty adviser to Penn College’s Baja SAE club. “Lesser teams would not have even tried. We did and succeeded in finishing the race. Everybody stepped up.”

The team was in solid position during the first hour of the race – held at a motocross track in Palmyra, New York – before the output shaft on the car’s gearbox broke.

“We are using a new rear suspension design, and because of where we put our suspension points, we put more stress on the output shaft than we thought we would,” Upcraft explained. “I think that can be addressed fairly easily going forward.”

It only took the students about 30 minutes to replace the gearbox. “We have many sub-assemblies ready to go in case something breaks. That makes it a lot easier for repairs,” Upcraft said.

After returning to the course and making up lost time, the Penn College car sustained damage after rolling sideways 20 feet down a hill. A competitor caused the accident by contacting the rear corner of the car during a jump.

“That’s just racing,” Upcraft said. “I thought we might have been done at that point, but we got lucky that we only broke a tab on the H-arm and a yoke. That only took us about 10 to 15 minutes to fix.” 

With about 30 minutes remaining in the race, the Penn College car rolled over, breaking the top A-arm. The team made that repair in five minutes to complete the event.

“The students showed solid leadership, and Nick (Benninger) did an awesome job driving for us,” Upcraft said. “And our new clutch worked very well.”

In other events, Penn College finished 14th in acceleration, 18th in hill climb, 19th in maneuverability and 23rd in suspension and traction. 

“Many of the teams in New York had already competed (at Baja SAE Oregon in May) and could address their problems before the race. For us, New York was our first race of the season, and we had an unproven suspension design. Now, we can make adjustments and be in a better position for a stronger showing at the next competition,” Upcraft said.

The Penn College team is scheduled to compete at Baja SAE Ohio in late September.  

Representing Penn College at Baja SAE New York were engineering design technology students Seth A. Alderfer, Telford; Brock J. Dunkelberger, Catawissa; Camren J. Ferrara, Lock Haven; Ian B. McFall, Boalsburg; and Luke T. Rockey, Morrisdale.

Manufacturing engineering design technology students Nick J. Benninger, Bloomsburg; Devan E. Duffield, Fredericksburg; Grant S. Gamber, Marlborough, Massachusetts; Benjamin J. Hawkins, Aaronsburg; James T. Johnson, Manheim; Trevor J. Lindsay, Mechanicsburg; Justin A. Moser, Nesconset, New York; Alex R. Reed, Fawn Grove; Jack J. Shea, Pittstown, New Jersey; Grady I. Walsh, Barto; Daniel P. Weaver, Bellefonte; and Ethan M. Wilson, Fawn Grove.

Also attending were Evan C. Jezek, Matthews, North Carolina (welding & fabrication engineering technology), and Matthew J. Rotundo, Abingdon, Maryland (applied management).