Car Club explores career opportunities during field trip

Naperville+Centrals+Car+Club+visited+multiple+car+related+businesses+on+Nov.+11.

Photo credit: Arne Toman

Naperville Central’s Car Club visited multiple car related businesses on Nov. 11.

Jay Deegan, Editorial Editor

Naperville Central’s Car Club visited four automotive related companies during a career exploration field trip on Nov. 11.

Club members had taken similar field trips in 2017 and 2018. This year, 14 club members,  all of whom have taken automotive classes at Central, went on the trip. 

“It was very insightful,” Car Club sponsor Chris Feid said. “The main purpose of the trip was to get kids to see that there’s other parts of the automotive industry other than being a dealership technician.”

The group first visited West Side Tractor Sales, a John Deere authorized construction and forestry equipment dealer headquartered in Lisle.

“[Students] got a tour of their facility,” Feid said. “They got to talk with some of the technicians and the kid wanted to learn what they had to do to get to that position if they wanted to.”

Kevin’s Auto & Diesel Repair is a diesel automotive repair shop in Villa Park, Illinois, run by a former student of Feid’s from 2009. This was the only stop on the field trip that was the same from previous years.

“He did a couple of demonstrations for the kids,” Feid said. “He bored out a cylinder bore in his machine shop. He showed the kids how to do that since we don’t have the equipment [at Central].”

The group then visited Cannonball Garage, an exotic car repair shop in Gilberts, Illinois.

“Since we specialize in supercars, obviously, it’s probably a little more exciting than your normal repair shop,” owner Arne Toman said. “Also, the place is super well lit, super clean and there are interesting vehicles going on. It’s always nice to see young people that are into cars. It seems like that has been kind of declining in the last 10 years. They were also very interested in my Cannonball Run record car.”

Toman also showed club members his Audi S6, which holds the record for driving the fastest from New York, NY to Redondo Beach, CA in an unsanctioned challenge known as the “Cannonball Run”. 

“Out of all the places, Cannonball Garage was my favorite,” freshman Xander Faith said. “They had some pretty interesting stuff there.”

The field trip concluded with a visit to Power Solutions International in Wood Dale, Illinois.

“[Power Solutions International] works on alternative fueling of gasoline or diesel engines,” Feid said. “So they use engines that are already out there and they retrofit the fuel system on it to compressed natural gas or propane.”