Many UGA students have ideas about glamorous jobs they want to get after they graduate. Senior James Gue has already begun his. In fact, James has been racing cars and go-karts professionally for 14 years and currently competes in the American LeMans series in the Prototype 2 category. He transferred to UGA two years ago and has taken a full-load of classes every semester while maintaining a full-time job on the racing circuit. He made Dean’s List for three of the past four semesters and is a member of the Italian Honor Society.
Hometown:
Roswell, GA
High School:
The Internet Home School
Degree objective:
B.B.A. in Economics with a minor in Italian
Expected graduation:
May 2005
University highlights, achievements, awards and scholarships:
Racing cars has always been a great passion of mine. I have raced at various levels throughout my short career, anywhere from go-karts here in Georgia to racing in Europe. After 11 years of racing go-karts and numerous race wins and championships, my car racing career really got started when I received the Barber-CART Skip Barber Karting Scholarship when I was nineteen. The scholarship paid for my first year of car racing. Currently I am competing in the American LeMans Series, in the Prototype 2 category. We just won the team championship, and I am second in the driver’s championship.
Current Employment:
In addition to racing the American LeMans Series full time, I work for a large Canadian engineering and racing oriented company as a test and development driver. I also work part-time as a driving instructor at the Road Atlanta race track in Gainesville, Georgia, teaching both race craft as well as teen driving schools.
Family Ties to UGA:
My family is also involved in racing. My mother and father own and run a successful racing team, Essex Racing, based in Cumming, Georgia. My older brother has been a design engineer for a number of racing car manufacturers as well as working for an Indy car team.
I chose to attend UGA because…
…after living in Italy for a couple of years I was really interested in continuing to learn the language, so the language classes were a big reason for coming here. Athens is a true college town, and the idea of a big and diverse campus with a great reputation was something that really appealed to me.
When I have free time, I like…
Any free time I have is usually spent catching up or trying to get ahead with my school work, as my racing and testing schedule is quite demanding. After I’m caught up with my with school work I usually ride my bike around Athens, work out or play some kind of sport; I’m always staying active.
The craziest thing I’ve done is…
…leave high school here in Georgia and move to Italy by myself the day I turned 17 not knowing a word of Italian. I was there with an Italian go-kart team racing throughout western Europe.
My favorite place to study is…
…the desk in my apartment between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. It is the perfect place for me since it’s quiet and free of distractions. There’s no TV and nobody usually calls that late so that’s usually when I’m most productive.
If I could share an afternoon with anyone, I would love to share it with…
…Michael Schumacher, who is a seven-time Formula 1 World Champion. He is one of the greatest drivers to have ever lived. I think it would be interesting to observe his work ethic and see what makes him tick.
After graduation, I plan to…
…continue with racing and trying to pursue other motorsports opportunities more aggressively as I will be able to focus on racing 100 percent.