Ramona ROP of San Diego County wins fifth consecutive U.S. Army High School Automotive Challenge Finals presented by Universal Technical Institute
POMONA, Calif. — More than 2,000 Southern California high school students gathered at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona to jump start their careers and higher education at the 24th annual NHRA Career Opportunities Fair presented by the U.S. Army on Wednesday, Nov. 7.
The Career Opportunities Fair, which has become a Southern California high school tradition for 24 years and is always held in conjunction with the season-finale of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, provides students with a free, fun-filled day of career exploration and advanced education programs in the automotive industry.
“The key in education is opportunity,” said Don Runyan, retired architectural drafting teacher and longtime NHRA Youth and Education Services advocate. “The NHRA’s Career Opportunities Fair opens the student’s eyes to the possibilities of what is available to them. They cannot get this kind of experience in the classroom behind text books or a lecture. Here they see and feel the excitement in motorsports and determine if they’d like a motorsports career. It is a life changing circumstance for many of these students.”
As a kick-off to the Career Opportunities Fair presented by the U.S. Army, thousands of students cheered for their favorite high school team competing in the annual U.S. Army High School Automotive Challenge presented by Universal Technical Institute on Saturday, Nov. 3rd at the UTI campus in Rancho Cucamonga. The competition is designed to test automotive students' knowledge and skills with various written exams and hands-on projects in a fun two-day event.
For more than 15 years, Auto Shop teacher Jeff Lehmkuhl has been making the eight-hour round-trip commute with his San Luis Obispo High School students to be a part of the annual Automotive Challenge.
“The Automotive Challenge provides our students with a great opportunity to take the knowledge they’ve been given in their classes and test their skills against students from schools throughout Southern California,” said Lehmkuhl. “We keep coming back to give our students the experience of a solid competition that encourages them to seriously consider the automotive service industry as a career path.”
Ramona Regional Occupational Program students Ryan Hall, Mike Jones, David Taft and Brandon Arthur, of San Diego County, beat 17 other teams to win the school’s fifth consecutive Challenge. The winning Ramona ROP High School instructors are Mike Saavedra and Robert Grace.
In the final hot rod showdown at Pomona, Ramona ROP defeated Rim of the World High School of Lake Arrowhead by finding and repairing problems with a T-bucket Roadster. They won a $3,000 savings bond and a trophy.
“It was definitely a tough competition,” said Ramona High School winning team member Mike Jones. “Just to hear that engine fire up was the sweetest sound ever and made all the hard work and stressful months before all worth it. Now, I plan to use that cash and the skills I learned to get into a career in motorsports.”
Rim of the World High School students Ali Arteaga, Addam Avery, Zechary Baker and Mario Julian, coached by Dave Meigide, won second place and took home a $2,000 savings bond and a trophy. Ramona High School earned third place in the competition followed by San Luis Obispo ROP.
“Watching them work under pressure and complete the project is the highlight of this challenge,” said Ramona High School/ROP Instructor Robert Grace. “And as long as they feel they did a great job; then, I’ve done my job and that’s all that matters. Every year, our students look forward to this event. It gets them thinking of the many career possibilities in motorsports.”
Following the nail-biting Challenge, business leaders and NHRA professional drivers such as veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Steve Johnson fired up the crowd with encouraging testimonials about goal setting and continued education. In the grand finale, students enjoyed some thrilling exhibition drag races at the track.
Later on Friday, Nov. 9, during the second day of qualifying for the Auto Club NHRA Finals, the Youth and Education Services Program presented by the U.S. Army completed its weeklong series of events and hosted more than 3,000 students at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona where they interacted with program sponsors, listened to motivational speakers, and were granted a free ticket to explore and experience the season-ending race in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
“This program is all about the students,” says Brett Lyons, marketing and education manager, NHRA. “It is our goal to motivate these participants and get them on the fast track to their future. The program is free and focuses on the importance of goals and continued education, which allows students to learn about and explore various career opportunities.”
For more information about the NHRA Youth and Education Services (YES) Program, please visit www.nhra.com.
