Motorsports come with a different approach. The cost of racing in almost any motorsport has seen a consistent rise from traveling, the vehicles and racer entry. At the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), the members at Gold Trail Racing are trying to create more opportunities for UTEP students who share the same dream. UTEP junior mechanical engineering major Edgar Alvarez was one of the original founders of the team. “There was a lot of work that went into creating this organization; enlisting it in UTEP, going to pitch the idea to the business side of things at UTEP,” Alvarez said. “And how that happened, why we went to business instead of engineering. We saw that we could do a lot with the business side of things, because when you first start an organization, especially a racing team, you’re going to need a ton of funding.” Alvarez believes raising funds through business and marketing should come first, then invite the engineering aspect of it after. They pitched the idea to the now advisor of the program, Professor James J. Hoffman. President and driver of the team, Santiago Arras, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, has been into racing from a young age. “It started with a really old anime that my dad used to put me to watch called Speed Racer,” Arras said. “That’s how I got into touch with racing, but I never truly fully pursued it. Only until 2020, 2021 is when I was introduced to the world of karting.” Arras raced around different parts of the U.S. such as Austin, Texas and Pheonix. He’s also part of a karting club in El Paso. Arras says his origin for karting was unusual. “I was a somewhat avid rock climber and I was in an accident where I