Flathead High School seniors Chance Borden and Colten Wiley will represent Montana at the national Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills finals and compete at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich.

They will be among 49 teams competing at the national finals June 8-10.

Borden and Wiley defeated nine other teams at the state level during the 65th annual hands-on competition Thursday at Helena College.

With 90 minutes on the clock, Borden and Wiley raced against time to accurately identify and repair “bugs” intentionally installed in a 2014 Ford Fiesta. Flathead industrial arts teacher Rob Hunter said students ended up repairing nine problems.

“They don’t tell you how many problems there are, but it’s usually between nine and 12,” Hunter said. “The cars don’t run. The kids have to go in there with diagnostic equipment and solve problems.”

After diagnosing the bugs and repairing vehicles, students drove across a finish line.

Teams were judged on speed, accuracy and workmanship down to minute details, such as whether or not students draped fender covers on vehicles during repairs and buckling seat belts before driving across the finish line, according to AAA MountainWest spokeswoman Kaelyn Kelly.

“This is supposed to be a real-world scenario, things you would see in a repair facility,” Kelly said.

Hunter added: “The contest is really trying to promote quality service with up-and-coming students.”

To determine who would initially compete on the Flathead team, Hunter’s Auto 3 students took a preliminary test online. There were about 75 technical automotive questions this year.

These test scores combined with the competition scores earned Borden and Wiley first place at state in addition to professional tools from Snap-On and NAPA Auto Parts and more than $10,000 in scholarships to attend Universal Technical Institute.

Borden and Wiley will take another test that will be combined with their performance at national finals.

Hunter said they could expect anything and everything at the national competition and the “bugs” are more complex. Hunter also noted the increasing complexity of modern cars and that the school has to regularly update diagnostic equipment. The team doesn’t yet know what Ford model will be selected for nationals.

“This car [Ford Fiesta] has nine computers that all communicate with each other, and that’s a simpler one,” Hunter said.

To practice for nationals, Valley Ford will provide a technician to help the team practice, Hunter said. Valley Ford also provided a vehicle for the students to practice on prior to state.

Flathead’s auto program has a rich history participating in the competition since the 1960s. Last year, Flathead took third place at state. It has been about 13 years since Flathead has captured the state title, Hunter said.

Ford and AAA pay for travel expenses for the state and national competitions.

“We’re excited,” Hunter said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].