Team ARP Finishes First in Dual Championship, Sets New National Record

Coach John Rickerson has been a part of the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge Championship each year since its inception. His teams have always finished in the top ten, and often in the top five. When asked about the key to his teams’ successes he simply says, “teamwork”.

“You’ve got to find a group of kids that can work together,” told Rickerson. “If you don’t have that team aspect where they don’t communicate and don’t work together, then you can’t have success. They’ve got to get along.”

Rickerson had two teams qualify for the Engine Challenge Dual Championship. Team ARP has already competed at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. They came in first with an average engine rebuild time of 17 minutes and 20 seconds. The team’s quickest rebuild was completed in just 16 minutes and 11 seconds, eclipsing the old national record by 11 seconds. “We held the national record last year at PRI for about 24 hours,” Rickerson remembered. “We set it at 17:55, but the next day another team broke it at 16:22. So we made up our minds this year to get the record back.”

With the national record in their pockets and a first place finish in the Dual Championship to top it off, Team ARP will head to the PRI Show this weekend to compete against eight other teams for the title of Engine Challenge Champion. “You never let your guard down,” Rickerson said of going into the Finals. “If you go in thinking you’re untouchable, you’re going to get beat. I tell my kids just do your job, run your numbers and make sure you hit your targets. You don’t focus on what’s going on on each side of you. You focus on what’s going on right in front of you. Worry about the times of other teams in the end. We’re not over-confident by any means. We’re practicing every day just to make sure we’re ready.”

Although practicing is obviously a huge part of preparing for the Engine Challenge Dual Championship and Finals, it’s not the only preparation the teams have to make. Fundraising is another challenge for the teams to overcome, as well as another opportunity for them to practice life skills.

“We raised part of our funds by the guys just getting out and working. We also utilized multimedia by getting local newspapers or news stations to do articles on us. Sometimes people just give us a call and ask what they can do to help. Sometimes we use Facebook. The biggest thing is reaching out to different aspects of the community. Our local NAPA store was one of our biggest supporters this time. They bought us pit crew shoes and made a nice cash donation to us.”

The team sponsors make a large difference in the program. Bob Florine, Executive Vice President of ARP, sees the long lasting benefits of the Engine Challenge. “Through the Binghams’ hard and diligent work they have created a program that has grown much larger and rewarding than many may had envisioned. and it is extremely beneficial to today’s youth providing learned skills, competition, camaraderie and scholarships,” he states. “Team ARP from Peach County High School has set the pace so far this year with record times and we are very proud of them one and all, and give them our best wishes going into the finals.

“ARP looks forward to our future involvement with the Hot Rodders Of Tomorrow and all the promise it holds for our country’s youth and this industry’s future.”

“This program has taught these students a lot of good life lessons – how to talk to people, how to work with people, how to travel,” added Rickerson. “For a lot of these guys the first time they’ve ever gotten on a plane was to travel for Hot Rodders. I’ve seen these kids grow up and mature through this. When I watch them do interviews for TV, radio or even newspaper, I’m amazed. I’ve got kids when they started they couldn’t even look the interviewer in the face. Now they stand up there like professionals. That blows me away. One of my graduates went into the Navy. It taught him teamwork. Another kid went to a technical college, graduated Valedictorian of his class, and now works for Mercedes. It taught him the discipline he needed. The team I have now started with me as freshmen. Four are seniors this year and one is a junior. I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do. Three of them are planning to go to the School of Automotive Machinists and the other is going to UNOH. It’s inspired a lot of other kids to go to school, as well. The Derale team (set to compete at PRI) is a young team, first year up, except for one senior. She’s a girl and is already registered for UNOH, which is really, really neat. It gives them a direction. A lot of seniors in our high school are just totally lost, but I can walk out to my engine team and ask, ‘What is your plan?’ and they’re spot on. They know what school they’re going to, they’ve already registered and they have a plan for what they’re doing after school. Here they are seniors in high school and they’re telling me what they’re going to be doing five years from now. It’s pretty neat.”

At the SEMA Dual Championship, three out of Team ARP’s four rebuilds were completed perfectly, without any penalty. Rickerson says watching his teams grow and improve over the years is what gives him the most satisfaction. “It’s a neat thing to see the light bulb come on. I remember the first time these guys got together and did a practice build. It was around 47 minutes. Then they finally got to 35 minutes, which is what it takes to qualify for the Dual Championship. When these guys were freshmen they didn’t qualify for the Finals. That year Hot Rodders had wild card teams. They got in as a wild card and ended up finishing fourth in the nation. I thought that was really neat. They showed that by putting forth a lot of effort you can build your speed over a short period of time. When you see those ‘ah ha’ moments – when they beat a time barrier or run their best tear down time or build time ever – you start to see a little different step in their walk, more pride.

“There’s a lot of these kids that without the scholarship money their dreams would just end in high school. But because of the scholarship money and the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow sponsors the dream is alive for them. They know they can go on beyond high school and do other things. I would say that this program that Rodney, Jim and all the other people that help put it together has made kids be able to live out their dreams.”

The dream will continue at the Engine Challenge Dual Championship and Finals held this coming weekend at the PRI Show in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Dual Championship round will be held on Tuesday through Friday Dec. 8th – 11th with 17 more teams competing for the final four spots in the Engine Challenge Finals. The top eight teams will then compete for the title of Engine Challenge Champion on Friday afternoon and Saturday, December 12.

Vice President of the Performance Racing Industry (PRI), John Kilroy is proud to have the PRI Show host the Dual Championship and Finals. “A regular topic in the racing industry relates to the question of how we are encouraging the next generation to enter our industry. The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow program is one of the best answers in the country to that question,” said Kilroy, who also produce the PRI Trade Show. “There’s a real passion for the sport of auto racing that is the center of our industry, and you can see sparks of that same passion glowing in the fine young people who participate in the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow competition.

“The PRI Trade Show has located the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow in a high-profile location within the Indiana Convention Center because the industry enjoys this event so much,” Kilroy added. “It does more than draw a crowd. The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow competition gives everyone a real sense they’re watching tomorrow’s industry leaders getting started. And you get a sense the future is going to be just fine.”