6-28-97
Contacts:
Beth Hunter, Team PrISUm, (515) 231-0363
Skip Derra, News Service, (515) 294-4917 or (515) 255-3422
EARHART DRIVES EXCYTOR ACROSS FINISH LINE
AMES, Iowa -- Team PrISUm called on Andy Earhart to drive
ExCYtor across the finish line today (June 28) in Colorado
Springs, Colo., thus ending a long comeback by Iowa State
University's solar car racing team. Team PrISUm completed the
77-mile leg of Sunrayce in approximately 2 hours and 30
minutes for an average speed of 31 mph.
Team PrISUm was the 26th team to cross the finish line of
Sunrayce 97. Unofficially, Iowa State will finish in 27th
place for the race.
First to cross the finish line today was the team from
Stanford University/UC Berkeley. They were followed by the
University of Waterloo and the University of Minnesota.
California State University Los Angeles was leading the race
heading into today's leg. They were followed by MIT and
Stanford/UC Berkeley. No official times or speeds have been
posted by Sunrayce officials either for today's leg of the
race or for the final standings.
Earhart, who was hospitalized after an April 29 accident the
team experienced near Topeka, Kan., had been helping the
during the second half of Sunrayce. Prior to the accident
Earhart was expected to be one of the drivers of ExCYtor
during Sunrayce 97.
"It was pretty emotional for all of us and for Andy too when
he drove the car across the finish line," said Beth Hunter,
Team PrISUm director. "He was supposed to be our main driver.
We thought it would be nice to have him finish the race."
Up until this point, the team relied on two drivers -- Bibek
"Bob" Sahu and Olivia Truckenmiller -- to drive the car
during the race. Sahu drove all the way from Limon to one
block short of the finish line when the team stopped the car
and changed drivers for the finish.
"We checked with Sunrayce officials and they said it was OK
to stop and let Andy drive it across the finish line," Hunter
said.
Earlier in the day, Team PrISUm was given an EDS Daily Award
for "smiling and having fun no matter what happened during
the race," Hunter said.
Sunrayce 97 coincides with the week of the summer solstice.
The 1,230-mile race began June 19 in Indianapolis and ended
today (June 28) in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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Editors:
You can interview Team PrISUm director, Beth Hunter. She is available until 6 p.m. CST at (515) 231-0363.
Official race standings and times can be obtained by accessing the Sunrayce web site at http://www.sunrayce.com/.
Iowa State homepage
University Relations, online@iastate.edu
Copyright © 1997, Iowa State University, all rights
reserved
URL:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/releases/sr97day9.html
Revised
6/30/97