SONNY'S The Car Wash Factory Celebrating 6 Victorious Years as Sponsor of Atlantic Technical Magnet High School of Coconut Creek, in the FIRST^® Robotics Competition

Tamarac, Florida — March 8, 2010 – For the sixth year in a row SONNY'S will be sponsoring and mentoring the winning "TechTiger Robotics" team from Atlantic Technical Magnet High School of Coconut Creek, FL. in the FIRST^® Robotics Competition.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), is a not-for-profit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology.

Called 'the varsity sport for the mind,' the 2010 Robotics game details were unveiled to teams via a live worldwide webcast transmission from NASA on January 9th. This year's game will challenge two alliances of three teams to compete on a 27-by-54-foot field with bumps, towers and tunnels. Points are earned by collecting soccer balls in goals and bonus points are added for each robot suspended or elevated in the air at the end of the match.

Working with SONNY'S the Car Wash Factory as their sponsor and mentor, The TechTigers have six weeks to design, build, program, and test their robot to meet the season's engineering challenge. "Our students design and build the actual robots. We look to, and rely on SONNY'S to help with fabrication and welding of certain parts according to the team's specifications," explains David Ellich the faculty advisor for the TechTigers.

Once these young inventors create their robot, they participate in competitions called 'Co-opertitions' which are cooperative competitions. There are 43 regional events around the country and internationally in the preliminary round of elimination challenges. The Florida Regionals will be held March 11 – 13 at the University of Central Florida Arena in Orlando. Regional winners move on to compete in The Championship which is held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, April 15 – 17.

"FIRST is about giving kids the opportunity to build skill sets like analytical thinking to develop skills to become a scientist, engineer, or inventor," states Paul Fazio President of SONNY'S. "In the years that we have sponsored The TechTigers, we have actually hired one student as an employee and utilized the designs from another for two parts that we still sell today. Every year that they bring home a trophy whether it is for a regional win, national finals, or the many special awards the team has won, it's always a thrill. We are so proud to sponsor these young men and women that I keep their trophies displayed right outside my office. I don't know of a better way to try and help keep manufacturing alive in America."

"The Atlantic Technical Magnet High School's TechTigers are an elite group of 35 students grades 9 – 12," explains Ellich. "Academics are highly stressed in the group and in the 5 years we've been involved we've seen 80% of our kids go on to college and of that 65% have chosen to major in some type of engineering related program of study."

More than 45,000 high-school students on over 1,800 teams from the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Herzegovina, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the U.K. are scheduled to participate in the 2010 competitions. FIRST programs are spearheaded by more than 90,000 dedicated volunteers worldwide, most of them professional engineers and scientists who mentor the next generation of innovators.

About SONNY'S Enterprises
With full tunnel systems in each of the 50 United States, and equipment in countries worldwide, SONNY'S equipment delivers millions of clean, dry, shiny cars each year, around the globe. The company founder, Sonny Fazio, built his first full-serve car wash in 1949. Today, SONNY'S is a recognized industry leader, awarded as such by the International Car Wash Association. Further building upon the company's commitment to make car washing easy for its clients, SONNY'S is the parent to five distinct divisions; AutoPilot Car Wash Control Systems, CarWash College, BayWash In-Bay Automatic Carwash Systems, SONNY’S Carwash Parts Division, and of course SONNY’S The Car Wash Factory, the largest manufacturer of conveyorized car wash equipment, parts, and supplies in the world.

About FIRST
Started by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills in young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. The not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC^®) and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC^®) for high-school students, FIRST LEGO^® League (FLL^®) for 9 to 14-year-olds, (9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S. and Canada) and Junior FIRST LEGO League (Jr.FLL) for 6 to 9-year-olds. To learn more about FIRST, go to usfirst.org.

Contact:
Robert Morris — VP Marketing
rmorris@sonnysdirect.com | 954-720-4100