Alumna Roy McCauley Crew Chief of Daytona 500 Winner

Roy McCauley (B.S. '92) was the crew chief of Ryan Newman’s winning Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Sunday, February 17. It was McCauley's second career Cup victory as a crew chief, and first with driver Ryan Newman in the 50th running of the Daytona 500.

McCauley, 37, grew up in Davidsonville, Maryland. He joined Penske Racing South in 2002 as chief engineer. He made his crew chief debut in 2004 overseeing Penske's driver development program. In 2005 McCauley oversaw a nine-race NASCAR Busch Series schedule where the team emerged with six victories.

McCauley participated in the Society of Automotive Engineers student group as a Maryland student. In a February 21 Dallas/Fort Worth Star-Telegram.com article, he reflects on his experience in automotive engineering: “I’ve built race cars, welded them together, hung bodies, welded chassis together,” he said. “I’ve done just about everything. That made me pretty strong in college, because a lot of guys didn’t have the hands-on experience that I did. I think that made me pretty employable right out of school.”

Driver Ryan Newman, 30, earned a bachelor of science degree in vehicle structural engineering from Purdue University in 2001.

"In general, I always said my engineering degree helped with two things, more everyday life things, and that was time management and problem-solving," Newman said in the Star-Telegram.com article. "Those two things definitely helped me be a better person. I would suggest that anybody that has the opportunity, whether you're 5 years old or 15 years old, to think about college."

Published February 22, 2008