Rayce Day 1
First, I would like to preface today's entry with a tale from last night, the eve of the race. After last night's banquet (and blog post, for that matter), the electrical team was doing some last-minute tune-ups on the car. Unfortunately, by 11:00PM, the trackers had broken themselves beyond repair for reasons we are yet unable to explain.
In a series of events that was nothing short of at least four consecutive miracles, we were able to secure an extra set of trackers from Principia and the equipment to configure them from Arizona State, and our amazing Electrical Team was able to get them working on the car in time to line up for the race start at 9AM. We are greatly indebted to both Principia and Arizona State for keeping us alive in this race.
We officially started racing at 9:01AM, in second position behind Michigan. Within 10 minutes, we were able to pass them by skillfully carrying our momentum through a series of stoplights, and eventually open up distance in the cloudy weather. With nothing but the open road ahead of us, we were first to arrive at the first checkpoint in McAlester, OK at 12:24PM, about 15 minutes ahead of Michigan.
As we pulled out of McAlester, the clouds finally parted, allowing us to run fast and charge our battery at the same time. Unfortunately, as things always go with untested hardware, the power trackers had some integration issues with the rest of our car and we were unable to produce as much power as the array is capable of. We decided to press on and fix the problems at the Stage Stop in Neosho; however, due to the lack of power to charge our battery, our speed slowed to a crawl, leading to us eventually being passed by Michigan and Principia.
Overall, we are satisfied with our current race position. We are sitting nicely in 3rd place, and expect to arrive in the Neosho Stage Stop early tomorrow, leaving a manageable gap for us to make up between us and the leaders. There's still a long way to go to Calgary, and, as we found out in 2005, anything can happen between now and then!
--David Towey
Crew Chief
Current Known Standings:
1. Michigan
2. Principia
3. MINNESOTA
4. Missouri S & T (a.k.a. Rolla)
July 13, 2008
Comments
Kudos to Principia and Arizona! I don't even know what trackers are. You all continue to impress me with your flexibility and hard work. I was concerned last night when I couldn't find any news on your progress. Thank you for the update. May today be filled with sunshine and smooth electrical functioning!
Posted by: Jeanne LaMoore | July 14, 2008 6:38 AM
I love your spirit! And say a big thank you to the Principia and the Arizona State teams from all of us - Just goes to show, what goes around, comes around.
We had an absolutly beautiful weekend - the best that Minnesota has to offer, I'm hoping the weather holds clear for you on your adventure!
Go team go!
Posted by: Louise Somers | July 14, 2008 7:56 AM
You guys are amazing! You are definitely doing something no other schools can do.
Posted by: C | July 14, 2008 11:37 AM
Saw you norh of Canadian Oklahoma (I think). Have three pictures (one is good) Want me to e-mail you a copy?
Posted by: robert | July 14, 2008 12:01 PM
Arrivals in Neosho as of Monday 1:00 PM:
Team (Start Pos) Arrival in Neosho
Sunday
Michigan (1) 17:40:28
Principia (8) 18:03:05
Monday
Minnesota (2) 08:17:45
Bochum (6) 09:27:26
Missouri S&T(3) 09:30:22
Red River (7) 11:00:56
Waterloo (12) 11:05:01
Calgary (4) 12:00:34
What time did you guys stop yesterday? Looks like you're about an hour behind Michigan?
Posted by: Nick | July 14, 2008 1:43 PM
Bravo being as high as you guys are with tracker problems. Given the time into Neosho, looks like you guys were within spitting distance last night.
FWIW, Principia's car looks SICK in photos. Any accounts in person?
Posted by: Pat O'Connor | July 14, 2008 2:47 PM
Bravo being as high as you guys are with tracker problems. Given the time into Neosho, looks like you guys were within spitting distance last night.
FWIW, Principia's car looks SICK in photos. Any accounts in person?
Posted by: Pat O'Connor | July 14, 2008 2:48 PM
Congrats U of M!!! Love to be able to see the updates! Keep strong, you guys are doing a great job!!
Posted by: Buck & Dede | July 14, 2008 3:40 PM
Great to see that you guys were able to pull this rabbit from your hats. Your tenacity makes me smile.
Posted by: Saul Phillips | July 15, 2008 8:46 AM
Go Minnesota! May the fastest team win this year and we know you were the fastest in 2005. Hope they don't hold it against you this year and deduct points.
Posted by: Karen Underhill | July 15, 2008 11:43 AM