This post, the first in a series, was written by Christie Hyde from AAA’s national office as she accompanies the winners of the 2010 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition, students McKenzie Nordland and Jonathan Anderson of Valley City, N.D., as they travel to job shadow the Roush Fenway racing team.

The winners began their job shadow experience with Roush Fenway Racing at the team’s headquarters in Concord, N.C., with a walk through the Roush Fenway Racing Museum, which is open to the public free of charge, Monday through Friday. Then they received a special behind-the-scenes tour of the team facilities that very few are lucky enough to experience.

They began by watching the No. 99 Ford for Carl Edwards on the seven-post shaker rig, which helps the team simulate suspension dynamics when setting up for upcoming races, then moved over to see the No. 16 Ford of Greg Biffle on the K-Rig, a suspension system simulator. Next cam a tour of the team’s Sprint Cup Series race shop that allowed them to see a vehicle on the chassis dyno and watch one of Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Fords get new coat of paint in the paint shop.

After a full morning of activities, it was time for lunch and we headed to a local barbeque favorite for many auto racing professionals in the Concord area. R&R Bar-B-Que is known of its slow-cooked pork that is prepared in the ‘Eastern North Carolina BBQ’ style featuring the whole hog and a vinegar-based peppery sauce.

After that filling lunch, we headed back to Roush Fenway Racing to watch the No. 99 pit crew of Carl Edwards practice.  McKenzie and Jonathan then got to try their hand at a NASCAR pit stop on the No. 99 Ford under the guidance of one of Roush Fenway Racing’s pit stop coaches. After learning that changing four tires in less than 12 seconds is no easy task, the students headed into the race shop to be put to work by the No. 16 team of Greg Biffle.

They removed components from the race car that Biffle piloted to an 8th-place finish in Sonoma earlier this summer and began cleaning it up a bit to make sure it was ready for the team to prepare it for the race at Watkins Glen in the coming weeks. While working on the vehicle, each of the national champs took the opportunity to slide into the driver’s seat where they found it's quite a tight fit inside a NASCAR race car.

With a full day with the race team, it was time to do a little shopping for some unique souvenirs in the Roush Fenway Racing Museum's gift shop., We picked up some previously-used racing tires for only $20 each, which the team is happy to ship home for out-of-town visitors for only $5.

We then took the short trip over to the Charlotte Motor Speedway to visit the home of the Coca-Cola 600—the longest race on the NASCAR circuit. Then it was time to head back to the Fairfield Inn by Marriott in Mooresville for a brief rest prior to dinner at another local favorite—Lancaster’s BBQ & Wings, which boasts more than 10,000 square feet of racing memorabilia on three different levels.