Team PrISUm did not have a very bright day at Sunrayce ’97 on Sunday.

After traveling a 105 mile stretch of in the hills of Missouri, Iowa State’s solar car team was forced to stop at Knob Noster, Mo., and recharge the car’s batteries.

“The hills were killing us,” Beth Hunter, director of Team PrISUm, said. “The car continues to run well but because of the lack of sunshine, we had to race the entire day at around 20 mph to conserve energy. We went as far as we could. When our batteries got too low, we pulled over and started to recharge.”

The team continued to charge the solar car’s battery until they reached Lee’s Summit, Mo., the resting spot for the fourth day of the race.

The team spent Monday not only recharging the car’s batteries but also recharge the bodies of team members in Lee’s Summit. Hunter said the team is exhausted because they have been going to bed at midnight and getting up at 5 a.m.

Team PrISUm stands in the 28th spot overall. The team started the race in 34th place out of 36 teams.

Wednesday will be day five of Sunrayce ’97 and Hunter said the team would like to move into one of the top 20 spots.

“It’s gonna be hard. That’s where we would like to be. We are happy that we are not in the 30s, where we started,” Hunter said.

MIT is the overall leader in Sunrayce ’97 and was the first car in Sunday. They finished the 156 mile leg of Sunday’s race in 3 hours, 26 minutes and 45 seconds with an average speed of 45.5 mph.

California State University, of Los Angeles, is in the overall second spot of the race. They reached Lee’s Summit in fifth on Sunday at an average speed of 43.6 mph and the University of Waterloo, who holds the overall third spot, finished second on Sunday at an average of 45 mph. The winner of Sunrayce has best combined times for each day of racing.

Hunter said Team PrISUm will hit the roads again on Tuesday. They will travel a distance of 152 miles from Lee’s Summit to Manhattan, Kan.

Sunrayce ’97 will finish up on Saturday in Colorado Springs.