Fremd High School from Palatine, IL. sponsored by Performance Racing Warehouse (PRW) took first place with the fastest time of 44 minutes and 15 seconds and will be representing Division 3 at the National Championship dubbed “Showdown at SEMA” at the 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas in November. There, they will be competing against Division 2 winner – Team ARP of East Ridge High School from Chattanooga, TN; Division 7 winner – Edelbrock’s Rev’ved up 4 Kidz Charity Car Show April, 24-25, 2010; Division 4 winner – Painless Performance Open House May, 8, 2010; and Division 8 winner – Lane Automotive Car Show May, 29, 2010; plus the1st place national runner up.
A record total of 17 High School Auto Tech teams participated. The teams are made up of invited auto technology classes from local high schools. Each team consists of five students and the instructor/coach. Each school sets standards and guidelines for involvement. Grades, attendance and skill are all part of the making the team. Through this event these students get an opportunity to showcase their talents and knowledge gained during classroom sessions and workshops. It provides opportunities for students to develop and build teamwork, demonstrate their skills, enthusiasm, and ingenuity, build their confidence and commitment to excellence.
The event itself resembles the tear down between rounds at a drag race. The engines are identically prepared small block Chevys complete with all the goodies. Students must properly disassemble the engine using only hand tools, utilizing proper detorque and disassembly procedure. The air cleaner, carb, distributor, plug wires, spark plugs, manifold, headers, heads, lifters, rocker arms, push rods, timing chain and cover. Then the oil filter, oil pan, oil pump, plus all eight pistons are then removed. The cam and crank remain in the block.
The team then returns behind their bench and wait for the judges to call them back, teams then begin working to reassemble once again with correct assembly procedure and torque specs, all while being viewed by judges and spectators. Time added penalties for dropped components, improper disassembly, assembly, sportsmanship, etc. will be added to ensure correct assembly.
All procedure penalties are in the rule book provided to the schools at the start of the school year. The engines when reassembled would fire up and run if gas, water, and oil were added. The team with the fastest time including penalty minutes wins.
The staff of The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow is all volunteers and cannot be thanked enough for the thousands of hours they donate to this great event.
DIVISION 3 HOT RODDERS OF TOMORROW ENGINE CHALLENGE RESULTS:
1st Place – Team PRW – Fremd High School – Palatine, IL. – 44:15
2nd Place – Team Motive Gear – Hoffman Estates High School – Hoffman Estates, IL. – 56:10
3rd Place – Team Energy Suspension – Covington High School – Covington, IL. – 57:32
4th Place – Team MOROSO – Joliet Central High School – Joliet, IL. – 59:52
5th Place – Team Mr. Gasket – Belvidere North High School – Belvidere, IL. – 67:40
6th Place – Team K&N Filters – South Elgin High School – South Elgin, IL. – 71:38
7th Place – Team Painless Performance – Streamwood High School – Streamwood, IL. – 75:43
8th Place – Team Magnaflow Performance – Glenbrook North High School – Northbrook, IL. – 94:20
9th Place – Team Speed Pro – Glenbard North High School – Carol Stream, IL. – 95:10
10th Place – Team Fragola – Tech Center of DuPage 1 – Addison, IL. – 105:24
11th Place – Team GearHead News – York High School – Elmhurst, IL. – 107:23
12th Place – Team Auto Meter – Lockport Township High School 1 – Lockport, IL. – 109:35
13th Place – Team MSD – Tech Center of DuPage 2 – Addison, IL. – 117:30
14th Place – Team Comp Cams – Homewood Flossmoor High School – Flossmoor, IL. – 119:48
15th Place – Team Be Cool – Lockport Township High School 2 – Lockport, IL. – 141:41
16th Place – Team Edelbrock – Grundy Area Career Center – Morris, IL. – 153:23
17th Place – Team Royal Purple – Schurz High School – Chicago, IL. – 173:10
Started at the inaugural Race & Performance Expo in 2008 under the supervision of Tim Freeman, The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge has quickly grown into a nationwide engine challenge with more Schools and Sponsors supporting this exciting event. For further information visit: www.hotroddersoftomorrow.com.
