At Speedway, the Sun Also Races

The steaming sun of July 20th may not have been good for your car but it’s exactly what some students racing needed at the Texas Motor Speedway in Roanoke.

David Hardy of The Winston School in Dallas took the wheel before the start of a race.

“This is pretty perfect weather,” said John Reed, a recent graduate.

Fifteen high school teams braved the weather to test out their self-built solar cars.

“The four-day event is more than a race,” said Dr. Lehman Marks, founder of the event. “I think the event teaches life lessons, and that if you don’t succeed, you pick yourself up and keep going.”

The teams have labored anywhere from a few months to several years to build the car of the future.

It didn’t take long for some students to test their skills, said Marissa Alanis.

And just like in a professional race it didn’t take long for a car to get attention like one that resembled the Flinstonemobile in the popular cartoon, “The Flintstones.”

“I was in the first turn and something went out,” Robert Wilson, a driver, told his teammates.

The team members and sponsor sped through a list of troubleshooting.

“The challenges for some teams weren’t limited to the track,” said Alanis.

One car is the only one of its kind created in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, according to its team.

“It’s history making in Puerto Rico and a big deal for everyone in Puerto Rico,” said Vivian Delgado, a team sponsor and marketing manager at Hertz in that country. “I believe solar are the future of the automotive industry.”

Just reaching the race is a prize in itself for some, they say.

One team captain said they reduced the weight of a car to make it race better and hoping to set a new speed record of 80 mph.

“That way if we have a flat tire we can change it fast,” she explained.

The Sundancer had finished in one of the top positions in the July 20th race.