The Automotive Aftermarket Product Expo student competition is returning to the show this year with double the number of schools involved, and triple the number of teams, according to a recent press release.

Nine teams from seven high schools and technical colleges are sending students to compete in the second annual AAPEX Student Competition. 

Teams will race each other in a timed event to fully disassemble and reassemble a small block V8 engine in front of a live audience. The competition will unfold over two preliminary rounds with four teams competing at a time in one group and five teams in the other. Next, the four teams with the fastest times will compete in the final round for prizes and bragging rights.

rganizers initiated the first-ever student competition last year at AAPEX 2025. Three teams competed, including two from community colleges and one from a Kansas-based high school, which took first place. The winners took home $2,000 in prizes last year, including $1,000 in gift cards and $1,000 in professional-grade starter tool sets. This year, the prize value for first place is valued at more than $5,000.

Jack Stow, an ASE certified master automobile technician and automotive instructor with North Kansas City Schools, coached the winning team at last year’s event. He’s bringing an all-female team to the competition this year, with Stow sharing in a phone call with AAPEX last spring that the duo was already putting in the work to practice after school.

An automotive maintenance and light repair teacher at Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Florida, expressed a similar sentiment. Michael A. Broud will coach a pair of students at the competition this year. One student builds dirt bikes on the side, and the other has become a skilled tuner who has tuned his Mazda 3Speed Turbo to deliver more than 600 horsepower.

Last year, the event attracted a sizable crowd of show-goers that was hundreds deep. In response, AAPEX has made the event a more fan-friendly by adding stadium-style seating and large-screen TVs for onlookers this year.

The student competition will be held near Joe’s Garage on Nov. 4, 2026. Preliminary rounds will start at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. The four fastest teams will advance to the final round that determines the winner, which will begin at 4 p.m. PT. There is no cost to attend the student competition.

“This is a national stage for these students as AAPEX is a ‘homecoming’ of sorts for the $599.7 billion U.S. automotive aftermarket,” said Bernard Tansey, owner of Euro Clinic and a judge on the competition. “It takes initiative for students to sign up for this and work ethic to perform, which are characteristics many employers find desirable.”