Iowa State’s solar car team shines through again as Team PrISUm qualified for Sunrayce ’97.

The team members put their ExCYtor solar car on the track of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and met all of the race requirements, despite not qualifying in April.

The qualification requirements included specific safety and performance requirements, and the car had to maintain an average speed of 25 mph for a total of 100 miles on the speedway.

The qualifications started on June 15. At this round of qualifications, there were 16 spots open for the Sunrayce ’97 and the team felt they had a good chance at filling one of those spots, said Beth Hunter, Team PrISUm’s director.

“We are excited and very happy that we qualified for the race,” Hunter said. “The car ran great and now we’re ready to race.”

Skip Derra, science writer for ISU News Service, said Sunrayce ’97 will begin today in Indianapolis and will end June 28 in Colorado Springs. Sunrayce is a biennial competition which allows teams from colleges, universities, trade schools and other post-secondary educational institutions to compete in a solar-powered car race.

“The first and the last days are the shortest days of the race,” Derra said.

Sunrayce ’97 will cover 1,230 miles through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. ExCYtor has the 34th position out of the 36 cars in the race.

Derra said this is the fourth year that Team PrISUm has participated in Sunrayce. “Every Sunrayce they’ve been in they’ve gone through the qualifications.”

Ten team members were hurt in the April 29 accident near Topeka, Kan., on their journey back to Iowa State from Mesa, Ariz., where the team initially failed to qualify for competition in Sunrayce ’97.

The accident not only injured some team members, but it also damaged the solar car. Team PrISUm spent an estimated $55,000 repairing ExCYtor, ISU officials said. The team worked around the clock to improve their car for the second-round qualifiers in Indianapolis.

The team finished in 15th place in 1995.