Sometimes it’s the little things in life that trip you up.
That was certainly true for Oxford High School seniors Chad Simmers and Eric Patrell.
The pair placed sixth in the state finals of the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition held May 7 at the Macomb Community College Expo Center in Warren.
They could have potentially placed much higher had it not been for a small electrical device that broke during the competition and couldn’t be replaced.
‘When that broke, it really put us out of the competition,? said OHS auto instructor Dan Balsley, who coached the students.
Simmers and Patrell competed against two-man teams from nine other schools in a hands-on competition during which they had 90 minutes to diagnose and repair a variety of electrical and mechanical defects (i.e. bugs) purposely placed in a 2015 Ford Fiesta SE.
‘We got off to a real good start,? Balsley said. ‘We found three of the bugs within the first seven minutes of the competition.?
Around the 15-minute mark, Patrell and Simmers located the fourth bug.
‘We were well on our way,? Balsley said. ‘They had taken care of the difficult faults. They were down to some easy diagnostic (tests) and repairs.?
But then disaster struck.
A relay located underneath the dashboard, behind the glove compartment, accidentally sustained damage during testing. This was not one of the bugs.
‘I could tell something had happened,? Balsley said. ‘The tempo had changed.?
The thin plastic cover that protected the relay had broken. When that happened, it damaged the internal workings and shorted out the fuse, according to Balsley.
‘It ended up knocking out the interior lights,? he said.
Simmers and Patrell attempted to obtain a replacement relay from the parts department located at the center of the field, but no spare was available.
‘They stock parts they’ve bugged (for the competition), but they really didn’t have much else,? Balsley explained. ‘There wasn’t much the guys could do about it. They were just stuck. So, they cleaned up the rest of the vehicle the best they could.?
Balsley believes Simmers and Patrell found six of the seven bugs, but even had they found them all, it still would not have been a ‘clean car? due to the broken relay. Clean cars are what win this competition.
‘A clean car is truly clean,? Balsley said. ‘You can’t have any faults in the car and unfortunately, we created one. That was pretty hard. They really could have done well had this part not broken.?
Only one clean car finished the competition this year and it was the one belonging to the team from the St. Clair County Career Technical Center, which took first place.
Had the relay not broken, Balsley believes ‘the potential for a win was there? with Simmers and Patrell.
‘They were the most well-prepared team I’ve taken to (the) state or national (finals) in maybe the last 15 years,? he said.
The pair had been training under Balsley’s guidance since March. They worked at the school until 7 or 8 p.m. most weeknights.
‘We’d gotten to a point where they were very good,? Balsley said. ‘I couldn’t get anything past them. They knew what they were doing.?
Balsley enjoyed coaching Patrell and Simmers because they’re a couple of the ‘nicest guys.?
‘These boys were just a pleasure to work with,? he said. ‘They were very considerate and polite.?
Even after the relay broke, there were no hard feelings between them, no assigning blame, which Balsley found refreshing.
‘They were supportive of each other,? he said. ‘I’m proud of them.?
Twenty OHS auto students attended the state finals as part of a field trip to show their support for Simmers and Patrell.
‘We had a very nice showing in the stands,? Balsley said.