It was a battle to the very end as 50 two-person teams fought it out to be the winner of the 2007 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Finals at the Ford World Headquarters yesterday. The California students rose to the occasion led by two fresh graduates of San Luis Obispo High School of San Luis Obispo, California - Austin Castro and Daniel Lehmkuhl. The two managed to accurately diagnose and repair their Ford Fusion in a span of forty-nine minutes and six seconds.
Before executing a job well-done, Castro and Lehmkuhl underwent months of preparation before mastering the task. They were assisted by Daniel Lehmkuhl’s father, Jeff Lehmkuhl. The hard work was all worth it as the two young men took home thousands of dollars in prizes and a privilege to study at the nation’s top auto technology schools for free. Ford and AAA gave out more than $6 million in prizes to all the participants who attended the said event.
"Daniel and Austin today proved to be the best of the best high school automotive technicians in the United States," said Allan Stanley, the manager of Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills. "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."
The top ten teams in the 2007 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition:
- 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.