Eastern Michigan University’s Baja Racing Club placed in the top 50 in the Baja SAE New York race, ranking third among Michigan schools.
The team packed up and headed to New York last week, carrying with them three years of lessons, an upgraded race car and a growing confidence that they belong on the national stage. The team completed 30 laps and placed 48 out of more than 100 competing teams, stated an EMU Today article.
Scheduled for June 11-14 at Hogback Hill MX in Palmyra, New York, the EMU team joined 110 teams from across the country, including in-state rivals from the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Western Michigan and Central Michigan.
Baja SAE is a collegiate engineering contest organized by SAE International in which student teams design, build and race single-seat, off-road vehicles from scratch. The cars must be reliable and capable of handling rugged terrain such as steep hills, mud pits and obstacle courses.
"The very first year we raced, we actually didn’t make it through the inspection process,” said Andrew Mansfield, associate professor of mechanical engineering and the team’s faculty advisor. “You have to get your car inspected to make sure it’s safe enough to drive and meets all the rules and requirements. (It) really takes two days.”
Moving past the first-year discouragement, the team treated it as a lesson. They came back the following year with a vehicle that cleared inspection and finished the grueling four-hour Sunday endurance race, completing more laps than every Michigan school except the University of Michigan.
“It’s sort of our third edition of the same car,” Mansfield said. “It’s just getting better each year.”
In 2025, the team completed 10 laps and placed in 66th place.
The upgrades to this year’s car are significant. The car features an entirely new rear suspension system, designed as a senior capstone project by mechanical engineering students working with an industry sponsor, along with lightweight internal components and a redesigned steering system.
The team is made up of students from EMU’s GameAbove College of Engineering and Technology, though membership is extended beyond engineering majors. Electrical engineering, product design and business college students all contribute to the project.
EMU didn't chase the overall championship this year, but Mansfield wasn’t shy in a previous interview about what a successful weekend looks like. After sitting out most of the dynamic events last year to protect the team’s car, the goal was to compete in all disciplines and finish higher in the national rankings in the centerpiece event, which is Sunday’s four-hour endurance race.
“We are probably competitive with most of the teams, maybe not the top 10 or 20 cars, but we’ll be competitive with many of the others,” Mansfield said.
Student team leaders Isaac LeBlanc, Ayden Roupe, John Webster and Travis Kurth will helm the squad as it makes the trip to Palmyra. For students who might be curious about joining the team next year, Mansfield’s message is simple.
“Just come and sign up,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s just building a race car and doing some off-roading, and everybody thinks that’s pretty fun.”
