A minor malfunction that went unnoticed caused Oxford High School seniors Nick Murray and John Musselman to finish third in the statewide Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills hands-on competition held April 23 at Macomb Community College Expo Center in Warren.
‘I sincerely believe they’re a first place team that ended up in third place,? said Auto Technology Teacher Dan Balsley. ‘But really, third in the state is exceptional.?
Sponsored by Skalnek Ford, Oxford was among 10 schools from around the state who competed in the competition during which each two-person team was given a 2008 Ford Escape with seven identical malfunctions (or ‘bugs?) to diagnose and repair.
Amazingly, Musselman and Murray finished in 28 minutes, 20 seconds.
‘We had the quickest time,? Murray said.
Time-wise, Murray and Musselman finished 10 minutes ahead of the next closest team, which missed two bugs in their vehicle.
The teams that finished first and second were about 20 and 30 minutes, respectively, behind Oxford, however, both of their vehicles were ‘clean,? meaning all the bugs had been found and repaired.
‘Unfortunately, we missed one very small, inconvenient bug,? Murray said.
The motorized controller for the driver’s side mirror moved it up and down, but not left or right. That direction had been disconnected.
‘That’s not something we were ready for,? said Musselman, who explained that he and Murray were prepared for problems related to drivability because ‘that’s what they usually did in the past.?
‘Normally, we would have never gone into the door panels,? Musselman noted.
‘That bug got 80 percent of the people there,? Balsley said. ‘There were only twoteams that found it, so that was a hard bug. They found everything else.?
‘No matter how well you prepare there’s a little bit of luck ? things either blow your way and you find most stuff like that or you miss it,? Balsley added. ‘It’s just a matter of are things going your way today or not.?
Balsley understands the boys? obvious disappointment over the third place finish.
‘If you weren’t a little disappointed then you weren’t trying hard enough for first place,? he said.
Overall, Balsley was very proud of his team. ‘They did a real good job getting the car running and cleaned up,? he said. ‘Everything that we’d practiced for and they’d looked for, they were able to knock those (bugs) down real quickly.?
‘I think these guys were as prepared as any team I’ve ever taken,? Balsley added.
Both students plan to use the $3,500 in scholarships they won to attend the Universal Technical Institute’s Arizona campus.