They didn’t place in the Top 15 in the 2009 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills nationals earlier this month, but two Williston High School graduates and their instructor had the time of their lives recently in Dearborn, Mich.

Dustin Arnstad and Garth Hagen represented the entire state of North Dakota as the team competed against students from the rest of the nation in finding and fixing intentional bugs placed in their assigned vehicle, then drive the repaired vehicle to the finish line. Their hands-on score was combined with the results of a written exam testing their vehicle knowledge.

Their parents and WHS automotive technology instructor Dave Bauer had fun watching them in action. The North Dakota car was situated at the end of a line of cars, making it easier to photograph the students in action.

The Arnstad-Hagen team was the third set of students to get their cars started, Bauer said. But there were more bugs to work out.

Even though they knew they hadn’t found all the bugs, the students decided to go through final judging because the 90-minute period was almost up, he said. “They missed three bugs, so they were a little down about that,” Bauer said.

While in Michigan, they toured the Henry Ford museum and had the opportunity to talk to representatives of automotive parts companies like NAPA. They were given outfits to wear, including the red, patched racing gear they wore during the competition, he said.

Bauer said Arnstad and Hagen are busy this summer, but he was able to reach Hagen to ask him what he thought of the trip. Hagen replied he was excited and not too nervous during the competition.

Overall, they enjoyed the trip, and Bauer is looking forward to sharing a slideshow from it during orientation at the high school in the fall.

“Ah, it was awesome. I guess we were in awe, all of us,” Bauer said of the trip.