Dylan Foley holds an important, but often overlooked, position within motorsports. The 20-year-old from Albuquerque, New Mexico is a track marshal.

“I’m an F&C flag marshal for the SCCA Texas, Lone Star region,” Foley said.

Track marshals are vital to track safety. Marshals communicate with race control, manage debris, and report any unsafe conditions. They are the first line of defense, but how does one become a marshal?

“In Texas, all marshals have to be SCCA members. That membership is $80 a year. You’re able to take F&C marshal training and you’re able to find events in your local area.” Foley said.

Foley credits his friend, Yash Tate, with getting the journey started. 

“One of my friends, Yash, pioneered a program within one of our adjacent  student organizations, Longhorn Baja Racing. He got memberships for about 30 students paid for through the SCCA.” Foley said. 

Along with being a marshal, Foley is also the President of Longhorn Sim Racing. This student-led organization at the University of Texas, is an up-and-coming club in the sim racing world. Racing is an expensive endeavor. The club aims to get racing enthusiasts involved in a low-cost way.

“We think sim racing is an excellent medium for people to get involved. It’s cheap and there’s a restart button. So, I think that’s been really good for getting people involved.” Foley said.

The club knows that doing volunteer work in motorsports is beneficial. It gives crucial experience to club members. In return, they provide value to different organizations.

“We got support from Yugo, a sponsor for the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 team. We got to do some promotional stuff with them. They donated equipment. We leverage our position as students and as motorsport enthusiasts. We provide value to every event that we go to and we get lots of really good experiential opportunities in return.” Foley said. 

Longhorn Sim Racing is currently looking for donors and getting involved in racing series.

“Our club is looking for donors, any amount helps. We’re trying right now to leverage our program to be able to afford more equipment, so it can be even more accessible for students. Even though sim racing is cheap, having a nice simulator can still run a couple $1000. That is kind of an unrealistic expectation for us to be telling our members. So, we’re in the process of working through university to get spaced on campus.

From there, it’ll be up to us to procure the system. We’re also speaking with Purdue and Clemson University. They have some simulation racing programs that we want to get involved with, specifically the collegiate racing series. So if we can get our founding and sim racing and find the right group of dedicated students, hopefully, we can eventually branch out into that.” Foley said.

Please visit the clubs website at https://www.longhornsimracing.org/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio for information on joining or donating.