A Wild Racing Day And Wilder Night!
Today's after-action report from the students feels like a roller coaster ride. They started the day on hilly terrain stuck behind two teams that only managed 25-30 miles an hour while the early starters ploughed ahead in light traffic. Once S&T cleared I-44 they began to build speed in ideal racing weather; blue skies and a great tailwind. They only stopped briefly, once to re-tape the left fairing, and again to change drivers. They also gained a step when Minnesota suffered problems at the check point, and that moved the Miners back into 5th in the order behind Michigan, Principia, Waterloo, and Bochum. 
Their morale rose with their sustained speeds of 45-50 mph, and was further improved by Miner supporters that popped up along the route to cheer the crew on.
S&T ended the racing day in Auburn, Nebraska, just 20 miles south of Nebraska City. Why is that important? In 2005,when then-UMR stopped for the night at a shopping center, a fellow strolled over to see what the fuss was about. It turns out he was Bryan Kriefels who lived just across the highway. Bryan is related to Nancy Uri, who works at S&T right next store to the solar car offices!! Bryan invited the whole team to camp on his lawn, fix dinner in his work barn, and best of all, TAKE SHOWERS!!
This trip when we stopped in Auburn, we called Bryan and invited him to come down to Auburn for a visit. Instead he insisted we bring the whole team up to stay in house, use his kitchen, work on the car in his big metal barn, and TAKE SHOWERS!! Oh, does this guy have the golden touch!!
This turned out to be lucky beyond words as a huge storm swept in from the northwest just an hour later, with heavy rains and howling winds; no time to be on a tent, don't you think? We'll have to drive back to Auburn in the morning to start from the same stopping point.
IN THE MEANTIME, Waterloo is stopped right here in Nebraska City, just 20 miles ahead of S&T, and we hear that Bochum is also nearby. Minnesota is 20 miles behind us, so tomorrow's racing should be pretty exciting. Hang on, and hope for clear weather!
Comments
Thanks for the updates. It would also be great if you can let know what our current standing is? I know it would not include potential penalties etc, but just want to know where we stand at the end of each day.
Posted by: Sundar Srinivasan | July 16, 2008 01:34 AM
I think it would be neat to list who's driving each day too...
GO MINERS!
Posted by: Laura | July 16, 2008 07:58 AM
Is this at the same house where the fire was? What caused it? The other post said it happened at ~1am. Do you plug the car in at night? What are the auxillary batteries for?
Posted by: Joe | July 16, 2008 01:57 PM
Joe - The car is not plugged in at night. The auxiliary batteries are used to power an on-board computer system that monitors the vehicle’s performance. The batteries that caught fire were not part of the main battery pack that is powered by the vehicle’s solar cells. I hope that clarifies. (Also, Joe, please include your email address when posting comments. Our policy is to not approve comments from readers who do not include an email address, but I've made an exception in this case because your question is one others may have. In the future, we will not approve a post from a reader who does not include an email address.)
FYI for other readers: here's the other blog post Joe is referring to.
Posted by: Andrew Careaga | July 16, 2008 06:35 PM