Tech alums Scott Graves and Matthew Stephens are supporting an Acura in the upcoming Petit Le Mans.

While racing fans pack up their camping gear for the 10th annual Petit Le Mans race Oct. 3-6, a couple of Tech alums will be revving up one of the racing engines.

Scott Graves, ME 86, and Matthew D. Stephens, ME 04, are supporting Andretti Green Racing's LMP2 class Acura in the race at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.

"This is Acura's and Andretti Green Racing's first year competing in the American Le Mans Series, so we're on a steep learning curve and are racing against teams who have been in it for many years," said Graves, who as director of operations for Andretti Green Racing's American Le Mans Series racing team oversees the engineering, car preparation, logistics and budgeting.

"The ALMS races vary in length from two hours and 45 minutes to 12 hours," Graves said. "The Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta is 1,000 miles in length, with a maximum race time of 10 hours. These long races put a premium on reliability. Our preparation is focused on building a car that runs without a hitch for the entire 1,000 miles. While having a fast car is important, the winner here is likely to be the car that has the least trouble."

Although this is Acura's first year participating in the American Le Mans Series, Andretti Green Racing placed first in its class and second overall behind Audi at the 12 Hours of Sebring race earlier this year.

"We have a talented staff with years of sports car and Indy car racing experience," said Graves. "Our drivers are considered to be among the best in racing."

Stephens, who works for Honda Performance Development, is serving as a trackside engineer for Andretti Green Racing. "I am responsible for anything and everything relating to the engine," Stephens said. "During the race, my job is to monitor, via telemetry, the engine and everything associated with it to make sure nothing goes wrong and to troubleshoot any problems we may encounter."

As a student, Stephens was involved with Georgia Tech Motorsports and he credits the club with jump-starting his racing career.

Ramblin' Wrecks heading to Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans are invited to join Sterling Skinner, director of instructional laboratories at the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and organizer of the annual Georgia Tech Auto Show, at "Georgia Tech fan headquarters" for camaraderie and barbecue. "We will have a 35-foot RV and big Georgia Tech flags and a barbecue pit just outside turn 10A, on the outside of the track," Skinner said.

The RV will be parked in spot 28, and it shouldn't be hard to spot. "Last year after the sun went down, we had Christmas lights in the shape of a GT that was about 10 feet high on the side of the hill near our campground," Skinner recalled.