Dalton Kellett Partners with iNSL and iRacing to Promote STEM Education Through their Student Innova

INDIANAPOLIS—AJ Foyt Racing’s rookie driver Dalton Kellett has teamed up with iNSL and iRacing to help promote the iNSL iRacing Student Innovation Challenge. With a goal of promoting STEM education, the challenge allows students from across the U.S. to become R&D crews for a simulated racing team, gaining points through Qualifiers and earning a place on track for the winter's sanctioned race series.

“iNSL's vision is to give students a feel for the breadth of careers that contribute to success on the track.When Covid19 shut everything down, our student competitors around the world were suddenly without access to the racetracks and race engineering,” said Jeannie Ruiz, Executive Director, iNSL’s ‘Partners Driving STEM’. “Dalton has been instrumental in connecting our non-profit educational organization to the world of esports through iRacing to create an exciting new challenge.”

To jumpstart and demonstrate the game tech design for iNSL’s student teams, Kellett, who holds a B.Sc engineering physics with material option from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, accepted the challenge of designing, modeling, and testing his own DIY setup including a wheel and pedals.

“Knowing how expensive a purchased home setup can be, I used inexpensive materials and recycled cardboard while building an example prototype that the students can replicate at home. STEM education opens so many roads for young minds, I want to ensure it’s always as fun and accessible as possible,” said Kellett. “Being able to bring iNSL and iRacing together means that even in a challenging year we can still find innovative ways to engage students and bring an exciting opportunity to them in the safety of their own home.”

“Dalton’s experiences driving both physical tracks and simulated races gives him a totally unique perspective. Add his qualifications as an engineer and STEM advocate, and you've got the perfect ambassador to get InterNational STEM League students engaged,” added Ruiz.

Kellett participated in the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge before his regular NTT INDYCAR Series began. Here he is racing at the virtual Circuit of the Americas.

The iNSL and iRacing Student Innovation Challenge is open to students across America with up to 24 students per team. The first 50 teams registered will receive fully funded iRacing Membership for the season. Teams register, and individual students sign on as iRacing team members for navigation, spotting, exchanging drivers, etc. with all teams required to build their own DIY racing setups.

More information on the iNSL iRacing Student Innovation Challenge can be found at iNSL.org: http://insl.org/iracing-nsl-competition.