Newest Kulwicki scholarship winner

  The Lee College of Engineering at UNC Charlotte has awarded its Alan Kulwicki Memorial Scholarship to Matthew Piercy of Conover, N.C. The presentation of the 2012 scholarship will be made Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway prior to the running of the Dollar General 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

   The four-year Kulwicki Scholarship, established in 1994, is one of the highest honors within UNC Charlotte’s Motorsports Engineering program. The scholarship is given in memory of late NASCAR Cup champion Alan Kulwicki, who lost his life in a plane crash in 1993. Kulwicki was himself an engineer, and a strong supporter of engineering and science education. The Lee College of Engineering at UNC Charlotte presents the scholarship to a high-school senior who demonstrates outstanding academic achievement and has an affiliation with auto racing.

   During his high school career at St. Stephens High, Piercy won the Award of Academic Excellence all four years, was a junior marshal and won the Scholar Athlete Award. He was in the Beta Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and National Technical Honor Society.

   Piercy’s racing interests include driving Limited Late Model and Late Model stock cars at Hickory Motor Speedway. In 2011 he placed third in the Limited season championship with four wins, seven second place finishes and nine poles. In 2010 he was fourth in the Limited season championship with nine top-five finishes.

   After graduating Piercy would like to work in the race industry as a team engineer and eventually work his way up to become a NASCAR crew chief.

   “I’m a driven and passionate racer,” Piercy said, “much like Kulwicki. I believe I will represent the scholarship in a manner that directly relates to what Alan Kulwicki stood for. This scholarship will aid me in getting an engineering education that will further my knowledge of race cars and the physics of how they work.”