CLEVELAND, Ohio Ohio Technical College (OTC) awarded $202,000 in scholarships to high school students on the top six teams competing in the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge National Championship held at the 2010 SEMA Show earlier this month.
The finalists can redeem the scholarships at OTC, where students learn a wide array of technician skills in automotive, collision repair, high-performance and racing, welding and diesel, or at OTC’s branch campus the PowerSport Institute, where students train to service the motorcycles and other powersport vehicles of all major manufacturers. This is the second year OTC has awarded the scholarships to the event’s finalists.
“This year’s competition was fantastic, with the runner-up team’s average time only two minutes off the winner’s time,” said Tom King, director of enrollment management, OTC. “All the participants exhibited high levels of skill, interest and dedication, and those are the attributes that fuel the efforts of the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow and our college.”
First place went to Team Autometer from Loara High School in Anaheim, Calif., where the team averaged 31:00 to successfully disassemble and reassemble a 350 Chevy engine using only hand tools, while judges and major industry figures like Vic Edelbrock, Rich Evans and others watched. Each team member won a $10,000 OTC scholarship.
Team ARP from East Ridge High School in Chattanooga, Tenn., was runner-up, earning each team member an $8,500 OTC scholarship; Team Edelbrock from North Orange County ROP in Anaheim, Calif., took third place to secure $7,000 scholarships; Team MSD from Eastern Oklahoma County Tech Center in Choctaw, Okla., placed fourth, and its members were awarded $6,000 scholarships; Team PRW from Fremd High School in Palatine, Ill., took fifth place and $5,000 scholarships for each of its members; and Team Painless from Lakeshore High School in Stevensville, Mich., was the sixth-place finalist, earning each member a $4,000 OTC scholarship.
More information about the competition can be found here.