BHS students to compete in National Hot Rodders competition
BREMEN — bremen High School students, Marcos Gonzalez, anthony Torres and Jason Munozfernandez will be heading to Indianapolis to compete in the National Hot Rodders competition from Tuesday, Dec. 5 to Saturday, Dec. 9.
The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow is a nationwide high school engine building competition that has competitions in seven states with the Dual National Championship held in Indianapolis. The competition is a race to take apart and put back together an engine. The competition has been around since the early 2000s.
Gonzalez, Torres and Munoz-fernandez entered this competition through their involvement in the Principles of Performance class. This class focuses on small engines. They have worked on multiple different engines throughout the class.
“We’re basically like a mini mechanic shop. We don’t charge any labor because they’re bringing it to us to help us learn. They just pay for the parts and we do all the labor for free. Its like a win win for both people,” Gonzalez said.
Each student sees this competition as a big opportunity for their future.
“It’s an opportunity to a greater future. It’s a big scholarship opportunity for UNOH and multiple other colleges as well,” Gonzalez said.
Torres spoke about these scholarship opportunities. He said that there is up to $10,000 per person for scholarships.
“I think its very important for a future. I think it’s setting us up for a great career,” Munoz-fernandez said.
This class has helped boost the students hope in working in this field in the future.
“at first I joined the class just for it to be like a side hobby. I work on four wheelers at home. Now that I’ve got into it, its kind of more realistic that I could go into a career working on cars,” Torres said.
“It was actually anthony and my brother that got me into this type of stuff. Now I think its all pretty cool and it interests me,” Munoz-fernandez said.
“I really like the class, I really do. I’ve always really liked high performance things. I really like working on cars with my dad. He has a mechanic shop. Its just something I’ve grown up around, its definitely something I’ve looked into for as a future,” Gonzalez said.
In the Principles of Performance class the BHS students work with a student from South bend and a student who is homeschooled. They spend a lot of time working together on engines.
For the last month they have spent every day working on the engine trying new tactics to improve their speed. Torres shared that they try their hardest every day to try to improve.
Gonzalez and Torres are seniors and have been in the program for two years now. Munoz-fernandez is a junior and is new to the program.
“I’m the only new one on the team and I’m just giving it my best, giving it my all trying to learn, trying to catch up to their skills,” Munoz-fernandez said.
“as anthony said, everyday this school year we’ve practiced to try to be faster, more efficient, smoother. Its a team effort so we all have to keep each other up and make sure nobody is dragging along. We have to work as a unit. We have to make sure everyones tagging along at the same pace,” Gonzalez said.