Middleton High School’s Racing Club advisor and engineering and technology teacher Eric Wheeler is impressed with his students’ ability to create racecars “from a pile of raw steel and parts.”
The team’s car was among the fastest at last year’s Formula Student USA National Track Day. Formula Student USA is a national engineering and fabrication competition for high school students that challenges teams to design, build, and test open-wheel style cars.
Wheeler started Middleton High School’s team in 2021 following a conversation with a student interested in cars. Wheeler mentioned Formula Student USA, and the student brought 10 of his friends to start a club.
“We had no plan and no money, but those 10 kids made up for it with a level of energy, optimism and drive that only naive teenagers can have,” Wheeler said. “We spent the next eight months trying to figure out how to start a high school racing team.”
Wheeler said his first team worked "relentlessly" to raise $12,000 and build a racecar.
“Looking back, that experience with that first group of kids is probably the most impactful experience of my teaching career,” Wheeler said.
The current team of 11 students – four seniors, five juniors, one sophomore and one freshman – shares a passion for cars. Middleton High School junior Genesis Flores Lanzo is among the new students on the team.
“I’ve always been interested in motorsport, specifically Formula 1, and this club felt like a good way to get hands-on experience,” said Flores Lanzo. “Compared to other clubs, Racing Club stood out because of how genuinely enthusiastic and dedicated everyone is. That energy made me want to be part of it.”
Wheeler explained that everything the team does is an extension of the classroom.
“Every year we either build a new car from scratch or heavily modify one of the existing cars,” Wheeler said. “Much of the students' time is spent fabricating the many steel components of the car including the chassis, control arms, and suspension components.”
He said students spend a significant amount of time using computer numerical control, or CNC, machines.
“When it comes to the design of the car, there is a set chassis design and set of prints that all teams must start with to assure that all cars meet the necessary safety requirements,” Wheeler said, adding there’s room for customization.
Wheeler said the team has three cars staggered in a three-year rotation, noting that design modifications are usually done during a car’s second or third year. After three years, cars are recycled and the parts are used to make a new one.
In addition to focusing on car fabrication, team members work on graphic design and social media marketing for the team.
“The idea is to continually bring in students with diverse skillsets so we can do more and more in-house,” Wheeler said. “It also creates an opportunity to partner with a wider variety of local industry partners, which in turn creates more opportunities for students.”
“Building Racecars Isn’t Cheap”
Wheeler noted two businesses that have been key to the team’s success: Plastic Ingenuity and Middleton Motorsports.
“Not only have they provided the vast majority of our funding over the life of the team, they have provided students with education and career opportunities,” Wheeler said.
Middleton Motorsports and Plastic Ingenuity have hired several of the team’s alumni for jobs and apprenticeships.
“Building racecars isn’t cheap,” Wheeler added. “Finding enough funding is always a top priority every year as it affords us the opportunity to do everything else. In addition to funding, it has also been incredibly helpful to have experts come in to share their knowledge and skills with the team.”
“Purest Definition of Hands-On Learning”
The first of the team’s two big annual events takes place Oct. 29 at Madison International Speedway, where schools from across Wisconsin converge.
“We don’t even keep lap times,” Wheeler said. “It’s purely to get students more time behind the wheel and to show new members what the organization is all about. It’s also a great opportunity for students to talk with people from the industry about career and continued education opportunities.”
“I want to see how the cars really do perform in person and how all of the team's hard work pays off on track, whether it be looking at the wheels and thinking about sponsors, or the body of the cars designed by team members like Marie,” Flores Lanzo said.
Closer to the end of the school year, the team will take part in Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisc., where high schools nationwide compete in a time trial event.
“It is quite possibly the purest definition of hands-on learning I’ve come across,” Wheeler said.” One constant across all teams is that everything breaks. I heard one parent say, ‘When the cars stop working, that’s when the real learning starts.’”
It empowers students to problem solve in a high-pressure environment.
“It’s impressive watching them come together with a single goal in mind: get the cars on the track so everyone can have fun,” Wheeler said.
Shaping Students’ Post-High School Paths
Wheeler said many team alumni pursue careers in mechanical engineering and motorsports engineering or as CNC programmers.
“Many of the team’s alumni have also carried their passion into college participating in Formula SAE and Baja SAE, which are the college equivalent of the Formula Student USA program that Middleton High School Racing participates in,” Wheeler said.
“Racing Club isn’t just about cars; it’s about teamwork, creativity, and learning real engineering skills in a fun, hands-on environment,” Flores Lanzo said. “I truly believe anyone who’s curious about design, mechanics, or problem-solving will find something exciting here.”
Follow the team on Instagram to learn more.
Photo, back row, left to right: Students Mary Gaffaney, Eric Henke, Ian Davey, Issac Zander, Matthew Lanear, Bechem Davis, Jonathan Laschinger, Ellis McLoughlin. Front row, left to right: Students Antonio Roldan and Genesis Flores Lanzo. MCPASD leaders Brian Miles, Erin Wheeler, Dr. Barb Buffington, Jerrud Rossing, Shannon Valladolid and Eric Wheeler. Not pictured: Everett Kerkman.