From No Experience to Audi Service Technician: Joel Fudge

To Joel Fudge, NASCAR Technical Institute represents opportunity. “Without that I would’ve never gotten the chance and opportunity to be here at Audi Northlake, nor would that have opened up any other doors possible in my future,” he shares.^1.4 

Joel is originally from Hampton, Virginia, about five hours east of NASCAR Tech in Mooresville, North Carolina. The automotive industry piqued Joel’s interest early on in high school, but after graduating, he chose to explore a four-year education and earn a degree.

Later in life, Joel found himself in Charlotte, North Carolina. He had no experience but decided to take a leap of faith. It was time to turn his aspiration of working on cars into reality.

He enrolled in NASCAR Tech’s Automotive Technology program and through hands-on training using industry-aligned tools and equipment learned the fundamentals of automotive diagnosis, repair and maintenance.¹⁸

Joel was able to get his foot in the door at Audi Northlake before graduating.⁶ “They [NASCAR Tech] have a board there where you can go and find open positions… I went there one afternoon and was able to see that hey, Audi Northlake had a part-time position open at the time, and I kind of just jumped on it.”

The service manager at Audi Northlake hired Joel as a part-time porter. He told us, “I was kind of the helping hand, in a sense, for the service department.” After graduating, the dealership offered him a full-time position as a service technician. This was an opportunity to put his training to use, and Joel felt prepared to do so.

“I had other opportunities, but this felt right for me at the time, and I don’t regret it at all. It was definitely a seamless and easy transition into the workforce,” he says.

Today, Joel gets to work on exciting high-performance vehicles. He recently replaced the turbos on an RS 7! The NASCAR Tech grad shared, “We deal with some really, really awesome cars, and to see the engineering, the power that they’re able to display, is truly amazing.”

Do you dream of becoming a technician in the automotive industry but you’re not sure where to start? Joel says that taking the chance at NASCAR Tech was key for him. “I gained my knowledge and my confidence to work on cars all from NASCAR Tech, and it’s been a key tool in my toolbox, should I say, in becoming a service technician.”

You can follow in Joel’s footsteps. Request more information to speak with an Admission Representative or enroll today.