When Chris Gaskins and Lee Powell were students at Whiteville High School earlier this decade, both played significant roles on the Wolfpack football team.

Now as students at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, they have found a sport they can not only take part in, but also major in -- motor racing.

Last spring and summer, Gaskins and Powell flew to California as interns from A&T’s motor sports technology department. They along with A&T classmate Edwin Akpaita were part of the seven-man crew for NASCAR drive and team owner Tim Woods III.

Woods is a third generation driver and serves as the operator and owner of T3 Motorsports. The internship was based out of Chino Hills, Calif., near Los Angeles.

With the T3 crew, the interns traveled extensively in the western united states. From Phoenix, up and down the California coast and as far north as Portland.

Gaskins, the son of Ernie and Rhonda Gaskins. grew up with a passion for automobiles and racing and he initially was going to transfer to NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresvillle before realizing that the motorsports program right on the A&T campus was just as efficient, if not more.

Powell, the son of Ervin and Sheila Powell, was a go-cart enthusiast as a child and often watched his father work on cars, He was actually on the verge of dropping out of A&T and considering other educational and career opportunities. But after getting introduced to the motor sports program by professor Thurman Exum, he knew he was in the right place.

Both Gaskins and Powell are scheduled to return to California in the late spring and spend another summer with the T3 pit crew. They will graduate from A&T next December.

Gaskins and Powell are hoping to one day land full-time spots with NASCAR teams as well as helping to establish a trend that will allow more African-Americans to consider careers in the motor-racing industry.