AAPEX Student Competition Returns With More Teams, New Fan Features

The AAPEX Student Competition will return this year with nine teams from seven high schools and technical colleges. That is up from three teams last year.

“After attending last year’s event and sharing my experiences with the class, my students were instantly hooked,” said Bob Parmley, an automotive instructor at Arapahoe Community College in CO. “While classroom instruction and lab work build a vital foundation, nothing compares to stepping into the heart of the global automotive industry.”

Teams will compete in a timed event to fully disassemble and reassemble a small-block V8 engine before a live audience. The competition includes two preliminary rounds. Four teams will compete in one group and five in the other.

The four fastest teams will advance to the final round for prizes.

AAPEX Student Competition Expands

Organizers launched the first student competition at AAPEX 2025 with three teams. Participants included two community colleges and a Kansas high school, which took first place.

The winners received $2,000 in prizes last year. That included $1,000 in gift cards and $1,000 in professional-grade starter tool sets. This year, first-place prizes total more than $5,000.

The event is part of a multi-year effort to spotlight the automotive technician shortage. The U.S. produced less than half of the 241,842 auto technicians needed last year, according to the TechForce Foundation. The organization projects a shortfall of 1.2 million auto techs over the next five years.

This workforce gap affects tire maintenance, tire repair, wheel alignment, balancing and broader automotive repair capacity across service bays.

“This is a national stage for these students as AAPEX is a ‘homecoming’ of sorts for the $599.7 billion U.S. automotive aftermarket,” said Bernard Tansey, owner of Euro Clinic in Santa Clara, Calif. “It takes initiative for students to sign up for this and work ethic to perform, which are characteristics many employers find desirable.”

Tansey helped organize the competition and serves as a judge and emcee. He has also written about the skilled labor shortage and steps shop owners can take to address it.

Students Prepare to Compete

Jack Stow, an ASE-certified master automobile technician and automotive instructor with North Kansas City Schools, coached last year’s winning team. He is bringing an all-female team this year. Stow noted in a call with AAPEX last spring that the duo was already practicing after school.

Michael A. Broud, an automotive maintenance and light repair teacher at Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Fla., will coach two students. One builds dirt bikes. The other, “a skilled tuner,” has tuned his Mazda 3Speed Turbo to deliver more than 600 horsepower.

“These two are hungry,” Broud said to AAPEX in an email. “When I asked if they would like to compete, their only question was, ‘When do we start?!’”

Event Schedule and Enhancements

AAPEX added stadium-style seating and large-screen TVs for spectators after last year’s large crowds.

The student competition will be held near Joe’s Garage on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. Preliminary rounds start at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. The final round begins at 4 p.m. PT. Attendance is free.

Sponsors Support Student Competition

Sponsoring businesses and volunteer members of the Auto Care Association Tool & Equipment Community coordinated tools, prizes and gift bags.

Duralast Parts, a private label brand owned and operated by AutoZone Inc., supplies the engines. Dorman Products supplies the engine stands. Milwaukee Tool and Carlyle Tools sponsor prizes for the winning teams.

Additional tool sponsors include Snap-on Incorporated, Carlyle Tools, SP Tools USA, Lisle Corporation and SureWerx.