Fixed Ops Journal - October 2021 - F27

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
About the challenge
Competitors in the Auto Tech National
Championship are timed to see how
quickly they can:
 Remove/replace strut assembly
 Remove/replace outer tie rod
 Adjust toe angle
opportunities in the trades.
Competitors are timed on how quickly they
can remove and replace a strut assembly, remove
and replace an outer tie rod, and adjust
the toe angle to factory specifi cations. Th ey
are judged on whether all components are installed
and torqued properly, and their overall
safety, workmanship and procedure.
Contestants can be penalized by adding
seconds or minutes to their fi nal time. Violations
include safety glasses not worn, tools
not returned to original location, components
not torqued properly (each 10 seconds) or hitting
the bottom of the tie rod with a hammer
(10 minutes).
Th e creators of the competition logged a
time around 8 minutes, and judges have been
pleasantly surprised with some of the fast
times.
Try, try again
Albertson was at a race in Indiana for the
weekend but drove back to Ohio on Saturday
to compete. He took his time during his fi rst
attempt, clocking in at 15 minutes. He tried
three more times, knocking minutes off until
he fi nished one in 5:47 with no deductions.
He was satisfi ed with that time, and headed
back to Indiana for more racing.
If the event were held a year ago, Albertson
would have been competing in the student division
(he's a 2020 UNOH graduate). Th is
year's winner in that category was Ashtin
Slizewski, a second-year UNOH student majoring
in high-performance motorsports. Th e
19-year-old bested his UNOH peers and other
students from around the state and region to
win top honors with a time of 5:16 with no deductions.
Slizewski,
who also is a campus tour guide,
tried his hand at the competition about " 15 to
20 times " throughout the weekend in between
showing prospective students around the university
grounds. " You fi nd a rhythm and you
get certain things down " the more times you
try, he says. When he hit his winning time, " I
said, 'Enough.' "
He says it was a fun event, with instructors
The 32 techs with the
fastest times in both
the pro and student
fi elds will head to the
championship round.
Participants are timed
on how fast they work.
Here, a tech competes
in a qualifying event in
Chicago.
bringing students over to compete. It's nice to
have bragging rights on campus for the year,
he says.
One fi nal challenge
He doesn't know what he'll be tested on at
the fi nals but plans to brush up on some basic
service problems to get ready.
Same for Albertson, who says he'll show up
in Nashville and " do the best I can. "
" I'm excited to be one of the 32 professionals
to qualify, " he says.
" I hope to do well. I've got some student
loans I need to pay off . " 
OCTOBER 2021 PAGE 27
Fixed Ops Journal - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - October 2021
