A good set of brakes can stop a fast-moving vehicle, but they can’t even slow down the students in Oxford High School teacher Dan Balsley’s class.
Students in Balsley’s Auto Techonolgy One course participated in the class’s annual “Brake Competition” Thursday morning.
During the competition, students were timed by a stopwatch as they disassembled and reassembled the rear brakes of various vehicles.
Students work in two-person teams and must perform the brake changes on two different types of vehicles.
On each vehicle, the job must be done correctly or the team’s recorded time is disqualified.
“They can’t just be good on one vehicle, they must be good on at least two vehicles,” Balsley said.
The teams are ranked according to their fastest combined time between the two vehicles.
The competition lasted a little more than an hour.
During that span, teams performed the brake jobs as often as they wanted, on as many different vehicles as they wished, until they achieved times they were satisfied with.
Balsley said he started the brake competition about 15 years ago as a way to motivate students when it comes to learning about brakes.
“I started doing it because students didn’t like doing brakes. They’re dirty and complicated,” he said, adding some students enrolled in the class thinking it’s was an “easy way” to get lab credit. “They weren’t practicing at all.”
“Now (with the competition) students take brake units home and practice all weekend,” Balsley said. “They’ve been preparing for this for three weeks. Competition is a great motivator.”
This year’s first place team was Ben Logan and Dave Peters with a combined time of 2 minutes and 9 seconds. They did one vehicle in 51 seconds and the other in 1 minute and 18 seconds.
The team of Devon Hickmott and Jason Molczyk captured second place with a combined time of 2 minutes and 23 seconds. The pair did one vehicle in 45 seconds and another in 1 minute and 38 seconds.
Chad McQueen and Chad Strobel finished third with a combined time of 4 minutes and 17 seconds. Their first vehicle was done in 2 minutes and 19 seconds while their other one was completed in 1 minute and 58 seconds.
Each member of each winning team received a rachet set donated by the Wright Tool Company, a cordless drill and tool box purchased by the Rotary Club of Oxford and a hat, jacket and calender donated by NAPA Auto Parts.
For winning first place, Logan and Peters each received a $100 U.S. Savings Bond, donated by Oxford Bank.