Source: Automobile Club of Southern California

Texas Team Takes 4th Place at Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition

60th Annual Auto Repair Showdown Pits Top High School Teams From All 50 States

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwire - June 16, 2009) - In a showdown of the nation's top high school automotive technology students, the two-person team from Birdville Career Center in Haltom City, Texas earned 4th place at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Finals. Out of the 50 teams competing, only four were able to perfectly diagnosis and repair their vehicles without receiving any demerits. They rounded out the top-four teams and included, in order of finish: Minnesota, Colorado, Alabama and Texas (see below for a complete listing of the top-15 finishing order).

Aspiring auto technicians representing Texas, Juan Correa and Andrew McConnell, were required to correctly identify and repair intentionally installed "bugs" during the competition. The repairs included the air conditioning blower, power windows and mirrors and interior and exterior lights as well as properly diagnosing and repairing problems to the starter motor and air flow sensor. Their school instructor is Olin R. Harrington.

This annual competition gives auto tech students the opportunity to showcase their automotive problem-solving capabilities by resolving "real world" repair challenges in a timed, head-to-head match-up of top teams representing all 50 states.

More than 9,700 high school juniors and seniors competed in this year's competition with a record-high $10.7 million in scholarships offered. Following an online exam, the highest-scorers advanced to their states' hands-on competition, with the top teams from each state competing today in Dearborn, Mich., at the National Finals. The 50, two-student teams that gathered this morning at AAA Michigan, located near Ford World Headquarters, also completed a 100-question written exam on Monday of which the results were combined with today's hands-on competition.

Prior to the National Finals, competitors were awarded $9.9 million in scholarships during the state-level competitions. At the National Finals, the top-10 teams received additional full and partial scholarships from some of the leading automotive technology institutions in the country, including Lincoln College of Technology, University of Northwestern Ohio, Universal Technical Institute, Ohio Technical College and WyoTech. Lincoln College of Technology also provided partial scholarships to all of the national finalists.

Additionally, the high schools of the top-15 teams in the competition will receive a Ford Edge, Taurus or Fusion for training purposes in their automotive technology departments.

"Each year, vehicles become more technologically advanced, which increases the safety and comfort of motorists as well as the need for a skilled, technically savvy workforce to service them," said Marshall L. Doney, AAA Automotive, vice president. "The students competing in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills are the future of the automotive industry. Part of AAA's commitment to provide motorists with solutions for all their automotive needs includes ensuring they have reliable, quality auto repair options both now and in the future."

After Doney gave the "start your engines, if you can," command this morning to begin the national finalists' race to their assigned cars, the competitors had 90 minutes to accurately diagnose and correctly repair the deliberate "bugs" placed in the Ford Escape models.

"Supporting talented young individuals in this skills competition is one reason why the Ford Motor Company sees a solid future for this industry," said Darryl Hazel, president, Ford Customer Service Division. "This competition provides education and scholarships that will help these students thrive in the automotive industry through a number of career options, including valuable positions within Ford's dealer network."

This year marked the 60th year of the annual competition, which first began in 1949 when Harry Truman was in office. This year, AAA marks its 25th year with the competition, serving as a co-sponsor since 1984. Ford Motor Company celebrates its 15th year involved in the competition.

The top-15 teams in the 2009 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Finals were:

1  Minnesota (Justin Dwyer, Matthew Ludwig) Faribault High School,
   Faribault, Minn., instructed by Mark Lessman
2  Colorado (Charles Duran, Dylan Keyes) Doherty High School, Colorado
   Springs, Colo., instructed by Brad Wheaton
3  Alabama (Zach Evans, Jared Hudson) Albert P Brewer High School,
   Somerville, Ala., instructed by Robert Bryson
4  Texas (Juan Correa, Andrew McConnell) Birdville Career Center,
   Halton City, Texas, instructed by Olin R. Harrington
5  California (Eric Reed, Doug Rinnell) San Luis Obispo High School,
   San Luis Obispo, Calif., instructed by Jeff Lehmkuhl
6  New York (Mike Palladino, Andrew Matthys) Wayne Tech & Career Center,
   Williamson, N.Y., instructed by Chet Kuhn
7  Kansas (Joseph Vanderputten, Dillon Percival) Kaw Area Tech School,
   Topeka, Kansas, instructed by Robert Oswald
8  Indiana (Jarrett Coberly, Nicholas Vogler) Pike Central High School,
   Petersburg, Ind., instructed by Buddy Lee
9  Arkansas (Brandon & Nolan Hildalgo -- twin brothers) Jacksonville
   High School, Jacksonville, Ark., instructed by Shawn Poindexter
10 Iowa (Cody Gudenkauf, Michael Hermsen) West Delaware High School,
   Manchester, Iowa, instructed by Jason Guyer
11 Kentucky (Jesse Bardis, Austin White) Shelby Co Area Tech Center,
   Shelbyville, Ky., instructed by Bruce Edwards
12 Wisconsin (Kieron Kohlmann, Jonathan Ramczyk) Washington Park
   High School, Racine, Wis., instructed by David Dixon
13 Oklahoma (Jeffrey Dill, Jack Gibson) Eastern Oklahoma Co Tech Center,
   Choctaw, Okla., instructed by Jim LaFevers
14 Hawaii (Chester Lee Coloma, Edler Espiritu) Maui High School,
   Kahului, Hawaii, instructed by Shannon Rowe
15 Wyoming (Alfred Hefenieder, Jesse Hernandez) Worland High School,
   Worland, Wy., instructed by Mike Sapp

Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills is a nationwide automotive technology competition for high school juniors and seniors interested in pursuing careers as automotive service technicians. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the competition that tests students' automotive knowledge, workmanship and problem-solving abilities with a written test as well as a race against the clock to diagnose and properly repair intentionally "bugged" vehicles. Ford and AAA are dedicated to the competition as part of their commitment to the future of automotive service in America. For information on competing in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills, visit AutoSkills.com.

AAA news releases, high resolution images, broadcast-quality video, fact sheets and podcasts are available on the AAA NewsRoom at AAA.com/AutoSkills

Broadcast-quality video of the 2009 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills will be available to download at http://www.aaanewsroom.net/videoclips/

Find Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/AutoSkills

Contact Information: Dan Ronan Manager, Corporate Communications/Community Relations AAA Texas/New Mexico 469-221-8217 work 469-583-7070 cell Ronan.dan@aaa-texas.com danronan@sprint.blackberry.net (immediate) Sarah Schimmer Media/Public Affairs Houston AAA Texas/New Mexico Schimmer.sarah@aaa-texas.com 713-284-6552 281-797-7886