IUPUI Student's Drive Takes Her to Brickyard as Race Engineer for Jeff Gordon

Ask anyone who knows Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis student Stephanie Borchelt, and they'll tell you she's got drive. Drive, and the engineering smarts to help NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon battle for his fifth Brickyard 400 win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.

"We've been very impressed with what Stephanie has done," said Brian Whitesell, team manager for Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 and No. 24 Chevrolets. "As an intern, she's had the confidence to fit in and get to work very quickly to contribute to the team."

This is Borchelt's second season with the Hendrick Motorsports team. Through connections made by the Motorsports Engineering program at IUPUI, she first secured an internship with Hendrick from June through December 2011. Throughout those months, she had a full workload designing, testing and creating parts used on each of Hendrick Motorsports' four cars.

Borchelt has continued her work at Hendrick Motorsports headquarters in Concord, N.C., this summer as part of the team's vehicle engineering group. In addition to reverse engineering components, conducting in-shop testing and creating end-of-test reports, she has also been assigned special projects and will work as one of three race engineers for Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet in four races, including the famed Brickyard 400.

"Stephanie is incredibly focused," adds David Kapp, manager of vehicle engineering with Hendrick. "She is not at Hendrick Motorsports to be a fan. She really is here because she is passionate about the sport and wants to solve problems. When she shows up to work each day, she shows up with a purpose: She's a member of the team, has a job to do, and stays on it."

A small-town girl from Trafalgar, Ind., Borchelt fell in love with racing at early age. Since then, she's done everything in her power to find an in-road with NASCAR - and specifically with Hendrick Motorsports.

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