RIDGEWAY, Va. (WFXR) — The Martinsville Speedway went from race track to classroom Wednesday afternoon as the track hosted 56 fifth-grade STEM students from Martinsville’s Patrick Henry Elementary School in an interactive learning session.

“It is the SOL’s at the time for science, so they’re learning about force motion, about how energy transfers and energy transformations,” said Patrick Henry Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Lizzy Fulcher. “And so they haven’t really been learning about race cars, specifically, but this, certainly, is a real world application of all of those things, so that was a great, great tie into what we have been learning in the classroom.”

The students tested their rubber-band cars which they constructed in their classes and on the Martinsville Speedway track. Overall, it was a checkered flag experience for the students.

“I think it is very cool, “said Patrick Henry Elementary School fifth-grader Wesley Walker. “I am glad I get to experience this. I have never been on this track before. I have only seen it. I think it is very cool.”

“Awesome, I mean it is just great and I would like to thank Martinsville Speedway for having us here today. It has been very awesome,” said Patrick Henry Elementary School fifth-grader Hailey Turner.

“Anytime we get kids out here it is very special,” said Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell. “Just looking at the kids today, we are as happy to have them as they are to be here. So it is great. We always are happy to work with Martinsville City Public Schools and Henry County Public Schools. They have always been a big supporter.”

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers from Neice Motorsports also came out to speak to the kids about downforce, tires, to go along with their project.

“It is great to be at a race track, no matter the situation,” said Neice Motorsports driver Matt Mills. “This is a really cool event they are putting on here for STEM and future engineers, hopefully, so it is pretty cool to come out here and build rubber band race cars — I wouldn’t call them race cars. It has been pretty cool [to] watch them work together with this group and understand the physics with what they are building.”