“We were told to choose a career that was something we would enjoy doing every day, and I knew racing was for me,” he said. For Bostic, the answer was motorsports then and the answer is motorsports now.

The soon-to-be-senior in mechanical engineering says he aspires to be an engineer for a NASCAR team or work as an engineer in an automotive or motorsports-related industry. Tuesday’s announcement that he is the first recipient of Clemson University’s Dale Earnhardt Motorsports Scholarship moves Bostic one step closer to his goal.

With two industry internships to his credit and a better than B-plus average, Bostic has proven his work ethic and his focus on his career goals. He has earned a spot on the dean’s list every semester of his undergraduate career except one and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Theta Tau professional engineering fraternity and Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity.

In his spare time, the Eagle Scout works on the Clemson SAE Mini-Baja car.

In addition to being awarded the scholarship, Bostic is spending his summer as an intern at Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s Mooresville, N.C., headquarters.

Clemson mechanical engineering department chairmain Imtiaz Haque praised Bostic as an outstanding student who will represent Clemson engineering well.

“I am very pleased that William is the first Dale Earnhardt Motorsports Scholarship recipient,” Haque said. “He is a credit to Clemson University, to the mechanical engineering department and to his family. I know they are as proud of him as we are.”