Joliet Township High School Hot Rodders Qualify for National Competitions

Students from the Joliet Township High School engine-building team will compete in nationals, with two teams qualifying after a recent competition held in Watervliet, Mich. on May 23. The JTHS A and B teams will compete the competitions which will be held in Las Vegas and Indianapolis.

The engine-building competition requires students to disassemble and re-assemble a Chevy V-8 race engine using only hand tools. Teams are timed and the engine is expected to run once assembled.

“The B Team had two runs during the qualifying competition. Each time they ran they met the national qualifying time under 35 minutes,” said team sponsor Sean Reisdorf. “In their second run they had a perfect engine and received no penalties for an official qualifying time of 32:54, as Royal Purple as their sponsor. With this time they are ranked 32nd in the nation for the playoffs to be held in November and December.”

Prior to the national competitions, the JTHS A and B Teams will have one last chance to improve their rankings at the Route 66 invitational to be held July 10-12.

The two national events include a competition for the top 50 percent of the teams to be held in Las Vegas, Nev. on Nov. 3-6 and a competition in Indy, Ind. for teams who place in the bottom 50 percent on Dec. 10-12. JTHS will send a team to both competitions.

Joliet Township High School students on the A Team are Dylan Crotty (captain), James Hert, Hristo Castillo, Jake Daniels and Eddie Arriaga. Students on the B Team are Antonio Gonzales (captain), Ulises Carreno, Angelica Aldaco, Gustavo Ruiz, Kevin Conroy and Derek Bernhard.

View Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jths204/sets/72157653479283766

Photo Identification Left to Right for Both Photos: Left to right… Sean Reisdorf, Kevin Conroy, Gustavo Ruiz, Angelica Aldaco, Ulises Carreno, Antonio Gonzales, and Derek Bernhard