ISU students from the Society of Automotive Engineers will be racing their Formula One racing car throughout the week in a national open-wheel competition. The competition will judge students on their ability to design, build and race cars.

Last year, Iowa State finished 18th, which was Iowa State’s best finish in the annual competition.

The ethanol industry has been their biggest sponsor, donating more than $35,000 to the team’s cause. The total amount used for the car has exceeded more than $100,000.

A huge amount of time has been put into the project, as well. The team guesses around 14,000 hours of work have been put into the car.

Out of the 140 cars in the competition, the group will have one of the six cars run on ethanol.

– Compiled from The Des Moines Register