Best Buy Racing Joins With Ball State University to Teach Kids about Science

CHARLOTTE, NC (April 12) – Members of the No. 66 Best Buy Racing NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series team are partnering with Ball State University, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Best Buy Children’s Foundation to help teach kids about science and engineering.

On Tuesday, April 17, driver Jeff Green and crew chief Harold Holly will participate in a live broadcast from the speedway as part of Ball State University’s Electronic Field Trip (EFT) series.

"Going, Going, Faster; The Science of Speed," a 60-minute interactive broadcast, will showcase the science and engineering that goes into racing and give students an opportunity to experience much of the activity that surrounds a day at the races.

Classrooms in all 50 states, plus Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Nigeria (a potential audience of 19.5 million students) will receive the broadcasts, which will take place at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. (ET), providing a glimpse into racing at the legendary speedway.

"I can't think of a better venue to get students excited about science and to help explain the laws of motion than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," said Ball State President Jo Ann M. Gora. "Ball State's EFT program gives millions of students a unique learning opportunity without ever leaving the classroom through the use of interactive technology. That's what I call redefining education."

Green and Holly were invited to take part in this special event by their team’s primary sponsor, Best Buy. The Best Buy Children’s Foundation, which contributes to programs that foster engaged, fun learning experiences for children through the use of interactive technology, provides financial and marketing support for the EFT’s.

“I’m honored they asked us to be a part of this,” Green said. “To be able to use racing to get a child excited about learning is a pretty wonderful thing. It wouldn’t surprise me if we see some of the students who watch this broadcast working in the sport someday.”

Green and Holly aren’t the only racers taking part in the EFT. Former Indy Racing League (IRL) driver Scott Goodyear, now a racing commentator for ABC Sports and ESPN, will host the event, and several IRL drivers will appear via taped interviews.

Students from Raymond Park Middle School and Frank Wheeler Elementary in Indianapolis and Laurens Middle School in Laurens, S.C., will also be on site at the world-famous Brickyard to help with the EFT.

In addition to following Indy and NASCAR drivers at the track, students will watch demonstrations that show how race cars gain speed and turn corners employing the scientific principles of inertia, friction and down force.

Green and Holly will assist in the demonstrations, answer questions from students at various points during the broadcast, and Green will close the broadcast by taking his No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet Monte Carlo for a few laps around the track.

Besides the live broadcast, Ball State is supporting the EFT with weekly Podcasts (called “Webisodes”) that students can download, as well as an interactive area of the EFT website (www.bsu.edu/eft) where students can learn the basics of inertia, friction and downforce, then “build” their own race cars. Once students choose the combination of body style, tires, engine, weight distribution and rear spoiler they want on their car, they receive a report on how the car is likely to perform on the race track.

Some PBS stations will air the broadcast live, but classrooms and interested persons can access the broadcast, as well as archived shows, on Ball State's EFT Web site, www.bsu.edu/eft, and on Apple's Learning Interchange Web site, http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali.