"The attendance and reception of the information was highly accepted," Reiling said.

Paul Stock of Stocks Underhood Specialist in Belleville, Ill., said he attended two of the management classes given by Dan Gilley of R.L. O'Connor and Associates.

"Training gives you the motivation and sales tools necessary to maintain profitably and comfortably sell major components to the customers," said Stock, adding that he is an AMI graduate who frequently attends Excel training classes. He said he has been in business for 23 years and encourages his employees to continue their education, making it part of his hiring process.

Reiling said that one of the popular technical repair classes was "Diagnosing OBD II EVAP Codes," taught by Al Dambrauskas of Mechanic's Education Association (MEA).

"Our training session was well attended, and we had some intelligent questions from the audience," Dambrauskas said, adding that there were approximately 25 attendees.

"In order to fix a vehicle with a small leak code, you must understand specific diagnostic techniques combined with an understanding of how the many different systems work," Dambrauskas said.  "This class showed how to determine and identify the leak by using smoke, HC, Ultrasonic, and Manometer testing in a system."

On Sunday, Dambrauskas also taught a class called "Tool Box Diagnostics," which drew more than 15 people, he said.  The class covered the proper equipment-testing techniques of common tools that most shop have, with methods that applies to all cars, he said.

"Often, equipment-testing techniques are passed down incorrectly," he said.  "This class corrected that. We went over things like back-pressure testers and smoke machines, to the limitations of 'noid lights, this class covered the need-to-know of common diagnostic equipment and prevent misdiagnosis."

Reiling said he plans on carrying the success of last year's training events into this year as he plans for the next Excel show, to be at Country Club Hotel & Spa on Oct. 24-26.