Junior Billy Demos first heard about Engine Team tryouts in his Automotives class. Engine Team coach Ed Hajost had made an announcement encouraging his students to tryout.

That was last year. Today, Demos is one of five members on the team, which he said is ranked 24th in the country.

This December, Demos, along with his teammates, freshman Andrew Cramin, juniors Kunal Vanjani and Thomas Kozel and senior Don Steiner, traveled to Indianapolis to compete in the Engine Team National Championship at the Performance Racing Industry Show.

“From [8 a.m.] until [6 p.m.], the students were required to be either in a classroom session or they were competing or they were given time to go talk to the sponsors,” said Hajost. “It was a very detail-oriented, non-stop activity for four days straight.”

“It’s basically like school and seminars for engines,” said Demos. “So I was in heaven.”

Other than the excitement of the classes and competition, Demos said the students enjoyed goofing around in the hotel pool and pulling pranks on one another.

“One of the guys was sleeping, so we drenched his hair in shampoo,” said Demos. “We told him that he slept on a bottle of shampoo. He had to go take a shower. It was, like, two in the morning.”

Hajost said although being in Indianapolis is a lot of fun, the competition is intense.

“They have to basically take an engine apart and put it back together,” Hajost said.

He added that every tool dropped is marked as a penalty.

“You’re going so fast and there’s oil on your hands,” said Demos. “It’s really difficult.”

Demos said one of the most jeopardous moments in the competition was when a teammate dropped a torque wrench. What would have been a 15-minute penalty after seemingly tripping on a rug was dismissed since the student had actually tripped on a judge.

“Everybody just stopped for a second,” said Demos. “That was a really close moment for us.”

The team finished with an average run time of 36 minutes, 19 seconds, taking 13th place in the competition.

Demos credited teamwork and communication as reasons for the team’s success.

“You always [have to] have communication,” said Demos. “You [have to] tell each other what to do.”

Demos said the Engine Team is a community with Hajost as “a father figure.”

Hajost said the Engine Team creates a safe environment for students to come and work with one another.

When Demos needs help fixing his car, he said he goes to his teammates.

“It’s not like a team,” said Demos. “It’s more like a bunch of friends together.”

Demos said one of the best parts of being on Engine Team is knowing that, as a member, the team counts on him and he matters.