Fans of Missouri University of Science and Technology’s Solar Car Team can catch the team on its Missouri leg of the race – and save on gas by catching a ride with other local solar car enthusiasts.

Missouri S&T Chancellor John F. Carney III and the Miner Alumni Association are sponsoring a bus ride on Monday, July 14, to Crowder College in Neosho, Mo., where Missouri S&T’s Solar Miner VI and more than 20 other solar-powered vehicles will stop as part of the North American Solar Challenge, a 2,500-mile race from Dallas to Canada. The Neosho stop is the only Missouri stop on the race.

The bus, provided by USA Tours of Rolla, will depart at noon on Monday, July 14, from the parking lot west of Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building and Student Recreation Center, 10th Street and Bishop Avenue. Passengers may board beginning at 11:30 a.m.

The bus is available at no cost to passengers, but space is limited to the first 57 who register. To sign up, students, faculty, staff and community members should log on to solarride.mst.edu and click on the “Sign Up” button.

The deadline to register is Monday, July 7.

Also during the Neosho stop, the Miner Alumni Association will host a “race party” with the Missouri S&T team, other solar car teams, alumni and other attendees. The cost to attend is $7 per person or $14 per family. Bus passengers will automatically be signed up for the meal.

The 2008 North American Solar Challenge starts in Plano, Texas, on July 13 and finishes in Calgary on July 22.

The teams will go as fast as they can (within the speed limit) and as far as they can during the day. At 6 p.m., they will be required to stop and set up camp for the night. However, there are four “stage stops” where all of the teams will stop for a day or two and recharge their batteries.

Stage stops are scheduled for Neosho, Mo., July 13-15; Sioux Falls, S.D., July 16-18; Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 19-20; and Medicine Hat, Alberta, July 21-22. Teams that arrive at a stage stop early will have extra time to rest. The team that makes it to Calgary fastest wins.

For more information about the race and the Missouri S&T Solar Car Team, go online to solar42.mst.edu .