Surrounded by the roar of the Detroit Grand Prix, an engineering intern sits in the Chip Ganassi timing stand for the first time. She hears drivers, engineers and strategists going back and forth over comms as cars and onlookers bustle around her.
Beginning this May, mechanical engineering junior Ali Jensen traveled with Chip Ganassi Racing in partnership with PNC Bank to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation IndyCar Series races across the country. Jenson was selected from a pool of over 150 applicants aiming to work alongside fellow student interns and champion Ganassi drivers such as Scott Dixon and Alex Palou.
“The racing was super cool,” Jensen said. “What fascinated me more was the engineering behind it, how the smallest of changes can separate the winning driver from someone a second behind in last place.”
As an engineering intern, Jensen said she talked with drivers and worked with race engineers to tune the vehicles and adjust the drivers’ tools, such as the steering wheel.
“Working with a driver, you feel like a doctor diagnosing a problem and then fixing it,” Jensen said.
A member of Longhorn Racing, Jensen said her love for motorsports began after watching the movie “Cars” growing up. Jensen said she would wake up early to watch Formula One with her dad on Sunday mornings and realized motorsports could become a career for her.
“(With engineering) you get to design something that gets used in the real world,” Jensen said. “Then I realized that you can do that with motorsports and cars and racing.”
Jensen said Chip Ganassi Racing created the internship program in partnership with PNC Bank in an effort to get more women involved in the world of motorsports.
“Looking up to these women that work for the team, you get to see the passion they have for the sport as well,” Ohio State University health science junior Erin David said. “It’s not just this boys club.”
Another one of three student interns, David said she worked in the Chip Ganassi gym and at the track every weekend treating injuries and performing health maintenance for drivers and crew.
“It’s great to see Chip Ganassi make an avenue for women,” David said. “A lot of times in motorsport and sports in general, they’re very overlooked.”
Elmhurst University masters student Lucy Anderson rounded out the 2024 intern class, specializing in data analysis. Anderson said projects she worked on included a scouting database, looking at statistics for potential young drivers.
“This experience confirmed that I do really love IndyCar, it’s definitely an industry that I want to be in,” Anderson said. “Also that there’s a spot for me if I want it.”
Jensen said after graduation, she plans to pursue automotive engineering and vehicle dynamics. She said her internship taught her skills she can apply to her academic career.
“One thing I learned from this was to not say no,” Jensen said. “To step outside of your comfort zone and ask questions and explore your curiosities.”
