American Solar Challenge 2003 - July 23th

The Finish Line

The run from Barstow to Claremont was breathtaking. The route took us through the mountains and down to Los Angeles County. I drove the solar car on this route today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Once we entered I-15 (about 50 miles from the Barstow start), the roads were all downhill. I coasted down the Interstate at just under 60 mph and had enough surplus power to charge our batteries at the same time! The last 20 miles of this race took our caravan through some outer-LA suburbs. The only factors that limited our speed today were the speed limits and the traffic lights. We're just too fast for L. A. County folks!

We were greeted in Claremont by hundreds of spectators. I was surprised to see Jeff Vollers' mom and sister wave the checkered flag as we crossed the finish line. Tomorrow, Thursday, we will go to the ASC awards picnic. Afterwards we will tour L. A. and then begin our return trip back to Auburn on Friday.

Everyone on the team is well and is resting now. Rory and Daniel got a standby flight out of LA this evening and will arrive in Atlanta late tonight. Joyner, Matt, and maybe Vickie will leave tomorrow morning and go straight back to Auburn. The rest of us are leaving, as scheduled, on Friday.

The ASC webpage, www.americansolarchallenge.org, is up-to-date, and our web page, www.auburn.edu/solarcar, will be up-to-date by tomorrow afternoon.

The next SOL of Auburn will be a Corvette...just wait.