TORRANCE, CA — Carrying on a proud tradition, Vic Edelbrock Jr. last week presented a check for $6,619 to Levi Wassemiller, an automotive student at the Northwest Kansas Technical College (NWKTC). Wassemiller, 19, of Goodland, Ks., is the recipient of the 2005 Vic Edelbrock Sr. Scholarship Award.
Roman Chavez, 20, of Lamar, Colo., also received a check in the amount of $750 as runner-up for the Vic Edelbrock Sr. Scholarship.
Edelbrock, the president and CEO of Torrance, Calif.-based Edelbrock Corp., began the scholarship program with Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland in 1996 to honor his father, Vic Sr., who founded the company in 1938. Vic Sr. was born in Eudora, Ks., so Vic Jr. decided to set up the annual scholarship program with a school offering an automotive curriculum in Kansas. The scholarship is awarded to a student in the college’s two-year “Auto Technology Program.”
“Partnering with Northwest Kansas Technical College on the Vic Edelbrock Sr. Scholarship Program has a very special meaning to me,” said Edelbrock. “They have an excellent automotive curriculum, which makes it an ideal place for us to help an automotive student while honoring my father. Levi is a good young man, and he’s already got a job working on cars. He’s a perfect choice.”
Wassemiller has taken general automotive classes at NWKTC, the same school his father, Roy, graduated from in 1971. The younger Wassemiller is currently working as a line tech at Finley Motors in Goodland, Ks., the same GM dealership that employed his father for 23 years.
“I was surprised and shocked. It didn’t really hit me until we got all the way to California,” Wassemiller said about being named the 2005 Edelbrock Scholarship Award winner. “This is the biggest accomplishment I’ve ever had.”
Wassemiller and his family — parents Roy and Debra, and sister Ivy — were flown out to Edelbrock headquarters in Torrance, Calif., and received the royal treatment, including a tour of the facility, gifts, including the new book, “Edelbrock: Made in USA” by Tom Madigan, and the scholarship award. Ironically, it wasn’t the first time Levi Wassemiller had met the Edelbrock CEO.
“I went to Las Vegas last November for the SEMA Show,” said Wassemiller. “I went with Casey Cox (who won the 2004 Vic Edelbrock Sr. scholarship), and he introduced me to Mr. Edelbrock there, and we talked for a long time.”
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