WHS students race at Derby Downs

Westlake High School students had a strong showing in this year's Gravity Racing Challenge in Akron.

Students in the Westlake High School Technology & Engineering Department participated in the fifth annual Gravity Racing Challenge at Derby Downs in Akron on May 17.

The team of Robert Slater, Chris Stone, Jake Johanni and Dylan Komorowski won the Innovative Braking System award sponsored by Time Warner Cable. They designed a new braking system for the derby car as part of the inaugural open class high school division competition. Their braking system consisted of constructing and installing a drum brake configuration, greatly reducing the stopping distance and increasing the efficiency of control.

In the racing part of the Challenge, Shane Supinski had the highest place of any Westlake driver in history by virtue of his 9th place finish in the Super Stock division. There were nearly 100 cars in this division. Sean Dunphy also finished strong by placing 19th overall in the same division.

Other students who participated as pit crew members were Nick Button, Nai-Ning Kuo, Ethan Fitz, John Willi and Sneha Ramachandran.