Charles B. Aycock High School automotive program wins second in national competition
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on December 5, 2016 10:02 AM
News-Argus file photo
The Charles B. Aycock High School automotive class inspects the black Mustang while working to refurbish it for the Quaker State competition in November.
The Charles B. Aycock High School automotive program wound up in second place in the national Quaker State "Best in Class Challenge."
The school had been one of 55 schools in the nation vying for the opportunity to win cash and prizes, advancing to earn a spot in the top five. Each of the finalists was presented with a pre-owned vehicle and $2,000 to be used at AutoZone to purchase supplies and tools.
They were given six weeks to complete the challenge.
Unfortunately, the CBA team lost momentum when Hurricane Matthew blew through and school was canceled for more than a week. Gene Stancil, automotive instructor, said the disruption contributed to the second-place finish.
"I'm pretty sure we got second place because we lost eight days on everybody else," he said Sunday night. "We talked to the Quaker State people and the judge, the man in charge of the point system, he told us the only thing the other (winning) team did was pull the whole engine out and painted it. It made it look a little bit better than ours did.
"That's what our plans were, was to do that. We lost the 12 points I think."
The sponsors commended the Pikeville school for coming in second, especially in light of having less time that their competition, Stancil said.
This was the second year for the challenge, an automotive education competition featuring high school auto shop classes across the country.
CBA was one of 14 high schools from North Carolina participating, and the only one to be a finalist.
Prize packages went to each school in the top five, with the first place finisher given the chance to attend the Barrett-Jackson auction in West Palm Beach, Florida in April, when the winning vehicle will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Profits will be awarded back to the winning school.
The second place prize package includes a $2,000 credit account at AutoZone and ownership of the customized vehicle.
"They wanted to win, but they're OK with coming in second," Stancil said of his students.
As for the black Mustang refurbished by his automotive students, he said there are plans to print raffle tickets to sell.
"We want to keep it in the school if we can," he said. "If we can sell all the tickets to the students and stuff in the school we would like to have somebody in the school win the car," he said. "The proceeds would go into the automotive program for us to purchase additional tools and equipment for the program."
He also praised the students for their efforts to complete the challenge and the teamwork and camaraderie it took to produce an award-winning finish.
"We had a great group of kids on this car," he said. "They took control. Me and Mr. (Jon) Horton (the other instructor) just had to guide them."