The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge is a series that takes high-school students and teaches them how to assemble and disassemble an engine faster than the average gearhead can perform an oil change. These students compete throughout the year in an attempt to qualify for the Dual National Championships held at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, and then at the PRI Show in Indianapolis, Indiana.
2019’s championship team was Team Fluidampr from Eastern Oklahoma County Tech Center, led by Jim LaFevers (who has led several championship teams). Team Fluidampr took dominating wins with perfect runs and significantly faster times than the rest of the field at both the SEMA and PRI rounds of national competition, securing the 2019 national championship.
The 2020 season consists of eleven regional qualifying events across the country where students compete to complete the crate engine teardown and rebuild in under 33 minutes, penalties included, to qualify for the national events. In 2019 154 teams entered into regional competition, and only 41 earned a spot to compete at the national level.
This year’s season kicks off at the traditional Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge series opener, the Motor State Distribution Race & Performance Expo, February 21st-23rd in Schaumburg, Illinois, followed by the events below:
Summit I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama Qualifier
March 13-15, 2020
Cleveland, Ohio
Tarrant County Qualifier
March 14, 2020
Fort Worth, Texas
York County Tech Qualifier
April 4, 2020
York, Pennsylvania
Tulsa Tech Qualifier
April 4, 2020
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
UTI/NASCAR Tech Qualifier
April 18, 2020
Moorseville, North Carolina
Summit Racing Atlanta Motorama Qualifier
April 25-26, 2020
Atlanta, Georgia
Parkland College Qualifier
May 2, 2020
Champaign, Illinois
UTI Sacramento Qualifier
May 16, 2020
Sacramento, California
Lane Automotive Qualifier
May 23, 2020
Watervliet, Michigan
Lions Automobilia Foundation Expo Qualifier
June 6, 2020
Rancho Dominguez, California
For more information on the series, results from each of the qualifiers, and information on the dual national championships, make sure to check out the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow website.