NASHUA — School board president Robert Hallowell is known as a mathematical guy by some of his peers, one of whom is Mayor Donnalee Lozeau.

So when Lozeau was contacted by New Hampshire Motor Speedway to take part in Magic Miles, a contest among the state’s 13 largest communities for a $20,000 education grant, she tapped Hallowell for his number-crunching prowess.

Each town picked two drivers who would be competing in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that took place in July. Whoever picked the winner would return to their school district with a fat check.

“When I called him and asked him to go I said, so what method would you use?” Lozeau recounted at the award ceremony Wednesday at Pennichuck Middle School.

“He’s really a mathematician type of guy, and so he went through a process and came up with a way to predict what was going to happen.”

Hallowell admitted he knew nothing about NASCAR.

He turned to friends, but came up short. And the mayor’s unofficial suggestion, Kyle Bush, would prove incorrect.

Left to his own reasoning, Hallowell picked both Brad Keselowski and Chevy driver Kasey Kahne, who went on to win the race.

“I looked through the stats, and what I learned is really those top 20, anybody can win, so I tried to be careful and optimize the two guys, rather than just picking the guy that had the most wins,” he said. “And it worked out because Keselowski was the one that came up higher in the ranks, but Kahne was the one that came through for us.”

Hallowell said the district is thrilled to receive the $20,000, no-strings-attached grant. On Monday he will propose to the school board Race to Read, a summer reading program for fifth-graders.

“We’re going to have a book that the kids take home for the summer, and in the fall we’ll talk to them about what’s in the book,” he said.

To pick the book, five books will be chosen (to match Kasey Kahne’s racing number, the fifth grade, and the award being received on Sept. 5). Students will vote in April to decide which book to read.

“The reason that’s important is because there’s sort of a brain drain over the summer for many students,” he said. “Giving them something that’s a little fun for them to do, but is educational at the same time, is an important task.”

Other participating towns included Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Dover, Franklin, Keene, Laconia, Lebanon, Manchester, Portsmouth, Rochester and Somersworth.

The grant comes on behalf of the speedway and zMax, producers of an automotive micro-lubricant.

Jerry Gappens, executive vice president for the speedway, presented the check to Hallowell and Lozeau.

“I’m a father of three children. I realize the importance of education, and getting a better start,” Gappens said. “We tried to put our heads together and come up with a creative, fun idea.”

The next race, the Sylvania 300, will take place Sept. 23 at the Loudon speedway.

Gappens gave Hallowell 50 tickets to the race, challenging him to develop a competition to award district staff.

- - - - - - - -

Simon Rios may be reached at srios@newstote.com.