By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(June 19, 2010)

Larry McReynolds takes his advocacy for the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition extremely seriously.

“When they asked me to be a spokesperson for this Ford/AAA auto competition, I was very honored and very flattered, because I do look out there and see the need for more auto technicians,” said McReynolds, a former NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief and current TV analyst for FOX.

The Ford/AAA program, now in its 61st year, helps fill that need through a national competition that involves more than 10,000 high school students competing for scholarships collectively worth more than $11 million.

“Just like in NASCAR, the technology has changed so much with passenger cars that I don’t think you can actually call these people working in dealerships and repair shops mechanics anymore,” McReynolds said. “They’re auto technicians, because it’s becoming pretty elaborate. You need a fairly strong education just to change your oil and change your spark plugs.”

The Ford/AAA competition concluded June 15 at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn , Mich. , and featured one two-person team from each of the 50 states. The national finals included a written test and skills challenge in which students had to diagnose correctly and repair a problem with a car.

Jonathan Anderson, 18, and McKenzie Nordland, 17, from Sheyenne Valley Area Career & Technology Center in North Dakota won this year’s competition.         

“The winning team is going to get to spend a week leading up to a race at a Ford team race shop and then get to go to the race and hang out for the entire race weekend, which is where I’m going to also come in and hang out with them over the weekend,” McReynolds said.

In fact, the winners will shadow the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Nationwide Series team during the week leading up to the late July event at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis . At the race, Anderson and Nordland will serve as honorary crew members for the team.