As the sun continues to hide behind clouds, some solar car teams are finding themselves hard-pressed to complete each day’s course in the allotted eight-hour timeslot at the East Coast Sunrayce ’99.

Overcast skies also are causing problems for Iowa State’s solar car team, Team PrISUm, said Michael Petersen, senior in electrical engineering and PrISUm electrical team co-leader.

According to a press release, only three teams managed to cross the finish line under their own power Tuesday.

ISU’s PrISUm Phoenix started Wednesday in fourth place overall in a field of 29 cars entered in Sunrayce ’99.

Petersen said because of the gloomy weather there has been a lot of leap-frogging between teams from start to finish.

“So far, [the weather] has been cloudy and dreary,” he said.

Sunrayce, which is sponsored in-part by General Motors and the Department of Energy, is a biennial cross-country race that began June 20 in Washington, D.C., and ends June 29 in Orlando, Fla.

Petersen said he remains optimistic about ISU’s position.

“We are running very effectively and feel we have a very good chance [at winning],” Petersen said.

Skip Derra, adviser to the solar car team in the last four Sunrayces, said the best finish for an ISU solar car team was 10th place in the 1993 race, which ran partially through Iowa.

Derra said this year’s team has used the last two years to prepare and test their car in hopes of winning the championship.

“This year’s car is better built and better designed than any other Iowa State solar car has been,” Derra said.

According to their Web site, Team PrISUm is one of eight teams to have competed in all five Sunrayces and is the only solar car team in the state of Iowa.

Petersen said 22 members are traveling with the team and today’s leg of the race will start from Clemson, S.C.

Up-to-date standings on Sunrayce ’99 can be obtained at www.sunrayce.com/sunrayce/mobile or at www.prisum.iastate.edu.