California Team Bags Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition

Ford Motor Company, in partnership with the American Automobile Association (AAA) has recently conducted the national finals for the 2007 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills. The competition aims to find the best student auto techs. Last fall, more than 7,000 high school students from every state enrolled in the competition, but only 100 students were given a chance to compete in the finals that took place at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.

Among the 49 two-person teams, Austin Castro and Daniel Lehmkuhl, of San Luis Obispo High School, San Luis Obispo, California claimed the 1st place. The two students diagnosed and repair the problem of their Ford Fusion in just 49 minutes and six seconds. The two brought home thousands of bucks and college scholarship grants.

During the competition, Allan Stanley, manager of Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills said: "Daniel and Austin today proved to be the best of the best high school automotive technicians in the United States. These auto-savvy teens typify the determination and work ethic of all 100 finalists. It's essential to the motoring public that the automotive industry attract such driven and dedicated young men and women to keep America's vehicles operating safely and trouble free."

"Professionally trained auto technicians maintain and repair the vehicles of millions of drivers every year. AAA has been co-sponsoring this Auto Skills contest annually since 1984 to provide motorists with the confidence that their vehicles will be properly serviced at all AAA-inspected and approved repair facilities." said John Nielsen, director of the AAA Approved Auto Repair program

Darryl Hazel, senior vice president of Ford Motor Company and president, Ford Customer Service Division also said: "Ford and its dealer network offer these contestants and other talented young people unparalleled opportunities to train for a high-tech career with excellent salaries and great benefits, such as insurance coverage, paid vacations, and retirement savings programs. Co-sponsoring the Auto Skills competition enables us to continue to attract the best young technicians to Ford's professional technician training programs and to careers in our dealer network."

Meanwhile, here are the top 10 winning teams of the 2007 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills:

1st Place: California. Austin Castro and Daniel Lehmkuhl. Instructor:
Jeff Lehmkuhl. San Luis Obispo High School, San Luis Obispo.
2nd Place: Michigan. Alex Dobroy and Zachary Hastings. Instructor Tim
Timoszyk. Saline High School, Saline.
3rd Place: Colorado. Eric Hess and Christopher Wu. Instructor Brad
Wheaton. Doherty High School, Colorado Springs.
4th Place: North Carolina. Evan Martin and Kyle Wishlinski. Instructor
Martin Page. Lake Norman High School, Mooresville.
5th Place: Virginia. Douglas Dunn and Gaetano Guiffre. Instructor
Scott Freeman. Fauquier High School, Warrenton.
6th Place: Ohio. Michael George and William Hrabowy. Instructor Dave
Gillies. Trumbull Career & Technical Center, Warren.
7th Place: Oklahoma. Jesse Cobb and Christopher Johnson. Instructor
Randy Henderson. Mid America Technology Center, Wayne.
8th Place: Massachusetts. Daniel Svizzero and Nicholas Wood.
Instructor David Haskins. South Shore Vocational Technical High School,
Hanover.
9th Place: Oregon. Levi Tolman and Chase Williams. Instructor Merle
Saunders. Vale High School, Vale.
10th Place: Hawaii. Brandon Sato and Dustin Texeira. Instructor Neill
Nakamura. Maui High School, Kahului.