RIDGWAY/OURAY – The Ridgway/Ouray solar car team, Sunshine Mountain Traveler, rolled into Boulder last week in third place after driving 589.2 miles on sun power alone.
Before the competition began, team member 5 Hanshaw, a senior at Ouray High School, said the team hoped to log between 400 and 500 of the total 866 race miles from Fort Worth to Boulder before their batteries ran out. So, “it went really well,” Hanshaw said.
The winning team, from Houston, managed 749 miles. Second place Solar Knights, from Plantation, Fla., were close behind with 735 miles. Sunshine Mountain Traveler was third ahead of four other teams in the classic division.
“The weather held until the second to last day,” said Hanshaw, when clouds and rain forced most teams to trailer their cars. There was one remarkable moment, she added. “The car likes Aaron (Daughtry, from Ouray) the most. It works best for some reason for him. He was driving, and he radioed to us in the chase car that he had a grasshopper on his leg. And that instant the clouds parted over the highway ahead of us. Other cars had to trailer (due to lack of sun), but we were able to keep going.”
At the closing night banquet in Boulder the Ridgway/Ouray team was awarded the William Shih Award for technological achievement for their radio communications system. Ridgway’s Tom Johnson, the team’s advisor, was also honored with an award as the sponsor/adviser who “best demonstrates the spirit of solar car racing.”
Asked if she’ll be back competing next year, Hanshaw replied, “I certainly will.”
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