Sixty juniors and seniors from high schools in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont will converge on New England Dragway May 12th for a chance to earn a portion of $12 million in scholarships.  Each two-student team competing in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition will race the clock to correctly identify and repair intentionally installed “bugs” in identical Ford vehicles.   In addition to receiving scholarships and prizes, the winning team will represent their state at the National Finals at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.

On hand to watch the students compete against one another will be 2009 NHRA World Funny Car Champion Robert Hight, who is also slated as the guest speaker during ceremonies held in conjunction with the event. 

Each two-student team earned a spot in the finals by earning one of the state’s top scores in the preliminary online exam. The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition will offer nearly $12 million in scholarships this year to students at both the state and national levels.  Now in its 63rd year, the competition has been sponsored by various organizations dedicated to quality auto service.  AAA has been a program sponsor for 29 years; Ford joined the partnership 19 years ago.

“We are very excited about serving as host for the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition,” stated New England Dragway General Manager Joe Lombardo.  “Ford is a major supporter of our drag racing program which features the AAA Street Legal Drags program on Wednesday and Friday night.  It’s a perfect fit.”

In addition to the competition scheduled to take place between 9:30 – 11:00 AM there will be a test and tune drag racing session, along with a Top Bike race.  For a complete rundown of the competition, including a list of the teams competing in this year’s program please follow the link AAA Skills Competition.