The Formula Car Team from Missouri University of Science and Technology
placed second overall in the Formula SAE West competition June 25-28 at Auto
Club Speedway in Fontana,
Calif.         

Approximately 80 teams competed in the event, which was won by the
University of Maryland. The teams were judged in several presentation and
performance categories, including acceleration tests that resemble drag races
and an endurance test. Judges also evaluated cost and
design.         

Each year, Missouri S&T students design and manufacture a miniature
Indy-style racing car for various competitions sponsored by the Society of
Automotive Engineers. Earlier this year, Missouri S&T’s team had a
second-place finish (out of approximately 40 teams) at Virginia International
Speedway April 23-26 and an eighth-place finish (out of more than 100 teams) at
Michigan International Speedway May
15-17.         

In California, Missouri S&T won the autocross part of the competition
and finished second in the endurance
race.         

Missouri S&T’s 2008 car weighs 450 pounds and has a top speed of about
85 mph. Some 40 S&T students were involved in every stage of creating the
racing machine, from computer modeling to welding the car’s steel frame. Many
of those students travel to the Formula SAE competitions as drivers and crew
members.        

More information about Missouri S&T’s Formula Car Team and other student
design teams is available at http://experiencethis.mst.edu/ .