Colorado School of Mines graduate, pro racecar driver returns to campus to give back to students
On Tuesday afternoon, a crowd of Colorado School of Mines students was drawn to the sound of a car ignition just outside the Labriola Innovation Building. They came to see a fancy Porsche and its driver, a fellow Mines alum named Sabre Cook.
"In this perfect moment, with the vehicle you have, you can achieve anything," she told CBS Colorado when asked about what was special about driving.
There are multiple levels of racing, from Formula One to NASCAR to lesser known venues like the Porsche Tour. While Cook doesn't feel like she'll be racing in Monaco or Talladega anytime soon, she has her sights set on different types of races, like the 24 Hours of Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans, famously depicted in the movie "Ford vs. Ferrari."
"If Formula One is up here, I've raced up to Formula Three level," she explained. "So whatever that is, two to three steps down."
But while she returns to Mines as a somewhat heroic figure, working with a local Windsor company that sponsors her team, there was a time when she wasn't sure if racing was in her future. A Grand Junction native, Cook managed to make waves in the local karting scene but knew the jump to higher levels of racing required a prohibitive amount of investment.
"I didn't have a way to get into car racing because it's insanely expensive," recalled Cook.
That is when fate intervened.
"I was really fortunate to meet a gentleman who lives in Aspen," she said, "and he had a race team and race cars and he came out one year and saw me race in a kart race and said, 'Okay, let's give her a shot.'"
Cook studied mechanical engineering at Mines and graduated with a degree in 2017. Every now and then, the education allows her to put it to practical use, working with her team of engineers.
"When I was at Mines, I felt like being in a technical setting, understanding what engineers look at, what they find important and how they communicate, I use that," she said.
As the crowd grew a bit larger and students started to step into her car to see what it's like. It was hard not to notice the number of younger female students coming to see her. It's something that Cook herself is noticing more and more at races and, as she achieves something of a veteran status on the circuit, knows that she stands for something greater than herself.
"It is important to show that we can do this, we can be there, we can show the representation," she explained.
As the car continues driving down the road, Sabre Cook has more checkered flags to chase.