By SEMA Editors
 Team Comp Cams from Burton Center for Arts and Technology in Virginia is this year’s Hot Rodders of Tomorrow national champion with an average time of 17:43. |
The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow 2016 season came to an exciting conclusion last weekend at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show in Indianapolis.
After 43 teams qualified for the National Dual Championship, 20 teams went to compete at the SEMA Show and 23 teams traveled to the PRI Show. Starting Friday, December 9, the top four SEMA teams went head-to-head against the top four PRI teams in the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Dual National Championship Elite Eight. Each team competed three times, and had their times averaged to determine the overall winner.
Team Howards Cams—an all-girls team coached by Jill Arata from Belvidere North High School in Illinois—took fourth place in the Elite Eight finals at the 2016 PRI Show with an average time of 21:05. This was the first-ever all-girls team to make it to the Elite Eight.
With four out of the five teammates having competed in the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge for the past four years, Team Fragola from Peach County High School in Georgia took third place with an average time of 19:12. Team Fragola also won the Parts Pro Perfect Engine award with the fastest time of 16:46. The award is earned when a team rebuilds the engine accurately and efficiently.
Coming in second place was Team Holley from Forsyth Central High School in Georgia with an average time of 18:50. Jacob Cochran from Team Holley stated, “I have learned leadership skills and how to work with new people. I have learned that communication is key to being productive as a whole. Hot Rodders of Tomorrow impacted my life experience as well. The friendships I have built with Hot Rodders have impacted my life greatly.”
In first place came Team Comp Cams from Burton Center for Arts and Technology in Virginia with an average time of 17:43. Chris Overfelt, Team Comp Cams coach, had previously won the 2014 Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Championship. “This year, my team practiced hard to be accurate and quick,” Overfelt said. “During the Elite Eight competition, I was overwhelmed by being in such a tight group of times. I am very proud of my team and their effort to become the 2016 Hot Rodders of Tomorrow National champion.”
Each team earned scholarship opportunities from Ohio Technical College, School of Automotive Machinists & Technology, University of Northwestern Ohio, and Universal Technical Institute.