Our start location for day six of ASC was four minutes away from camp, so a few volunteers woke up at 5 a.m. and left to charge the car at 6 a.m. The rest of us woke up between 6 and 7 a.m. and the last of us were at the starting location by 8:45 a.m. ROSE had some issues starting this morning, so Aaron Green and Jonathan Linderich weren’t able to begin today’s drive until around 9:30 a.m.
We stayed within Nebraska the entire way today, beginning in Fairfield and ending in Ogallala. Between the two cities, we stopped at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney. We arrived just after 11:30 a.m., ate some food from a few local food trucks and enjoyed some shade under a tree. At 2:15 p.m., we pulled out of Kearney behind Iowa State and Poly Montreal.
As we traveled further west, the cornfields and plains gave way to hills and cattle ranches, and the temperature rose to 100 degrees. We knew Zach Howard and Ariana Jones were extremely hot inside the car, but they valiantly continued to push on. Not far from Ogallala, with only 30 minutes left in our day, we had a right front tire go bad. A quick tire change on the side of the road by Ethan Collias and John Diekmann allowed us to continue toward Ogallala. We pulled into a parking lot and began solar charging.
Quite a few locals came over to ask questions and take pictures with ROSE. Before we left for camp, a few of us grabbed root beer floats at the A&W next door. Camp was at a KOA (Kampgrounds of America) site just down the road; a nice change of pace from last night’s spot. For dinner, the team split into three groups: Most of the team dined at a Chinese restaurant, a few of us went to a Mexican restaurant and the remaining team members went to a McDonald’s.
Caroline Flanigan and Zach Howard push ROSE to her starting position in the morning.
ROSE arrives at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument checkpoint in Kearney, NE.
Ethan Collias, left, and John Diekmann rush back to the chase van after changing ROSE’s tire on the side of the road.
Kieran Presler-Marshall, far left, talks to locals in Ogallala, NE, while ROSE solar charges.
A rough night of sleep was not how we wanted to start day five of ASC, but this team is up against any challenge that comes our way. The Pony Express National Museum was kind enough to provide biscuits and gravy for breakfast, which improved morale immensely. The rest of our morning was spent packing and preparing ROSE for the start line.
Aaron Green and Jonathan Linderich were the first ones in the car today. We started behind Poly Montreal and ahead of Iowa State, but we were ahead of all the MOVs in no time. We led the pack all the way out of St. Joseph and into Kansas. Iowa State eventually passed us as we were close to the Nebraska border. About 30 minutes after we crossed the state line, we reached our stage stop, the Homestead Heritage Center in Beatrice, NE. We spent the next three hours resting and enjoying barbecue from the food truck parked at the museum.
At 3:30 p.m. John Diekmann and Caroline Flanigan set off west toward our next stop in Kearney, Nebraska. Their two-hour-and-25-minute ride was straightforward but arduous. Heat built up in the cabin of the car during the ride, and both John and Caroline looked wiped when they climbed out. A few of us stayed with the car while it solar charged until 8 p.m. The rest of the team set up camp, picked up dinner and played in a lake until sundown.
ROSE passes by a windmill farm.
Jacob Doeren, pictured in foreground, cools off ROSE’s solar array with distilled water.
Families along the ASC route cheer on the competition’s solar cars as they drive by. Here, spectators wave and take photos of ROSE.
A local sheriff stops by to check out ROSE during evening solar charging.
Day four of ASC began with a symphony of alarms at 6 a.m. Our campsite was located about 15 minutes away from where ROSE stopped the night before, so everyone needed to get a move on early. Kiernan Preslar-Marshall cooked up some delicious breakfast sandwiches while everyone packed up camp. One van and the trailer left at 6:30 a.m. to set up ROSE for solar charging in the parking lot of Weber Seeds Inc. By 8 a.m., everyone had arrived at the parking lot, all the support cars were full of gas and Team Sunergy was ready to take on the fourth day of ASC.
Our journey to the checkpoint in Independence, MO, consisted mostly of fields and farmhouses. There were no tight turns or steep hills to give ROSE trouble. Zach Howard and Ariana Jones navigated the car to the checkpoint with ease and jumped back in after 45 minutes of hold time for a second stint.
The route guided us out of Independence and around Kansas City, MO. On the outskirts of the city, we encountered another train, but to the relief of everyone it did not impede our progress. After the town, we navigated through more fields until we reached the Pony Express National Museum in St. Joseph, MO — the next stage stop.
Our arrival time was 2:02 p.m., which gave everyone the opportunity to take the afternoon off and rest. A bunch of us bought pizza at a local food truck, though most of our time was spent in the Pony Express Event Center talking and laughing. The folks from the museum were extremely hospitable and offered some local candy, called Cherry Mash. At night we set up camp in the park next door. Half of the group slept in tents, while the other half set up hammocks in a tree. The last of us were in bed by 2 a.m., but noise from trains and a nearby street kept quite a few people up during the night.
The team’s campsite in the morning before packing up to start the day.
John Waugh, left, and Aaron Green distribute radios and safety vests in the morning to each vehicle.
The team reaches the second checkpoint of Stage 2 in Independence, MO.
The team arrives at St. Joseph, MO, ending Stage 2.
The ASC routine really began to set in this morning. We awoke at sunrise, tore down the camp and began charging ROSE at 7:00 a.m. for maximum State of Charge (SOC). Southern Illinois University Edwardsville staff were kind enough to prepare some coffee for all teams and provide snacks and drinks for the road. Originally we were slated to leave Edwardsville in the fourth position, but instead we were the second team to receive the green flag. We were stuck behind a stopped train not even 30 minutes into the drive. ETS, Iowa State and Illinois were also stuck behind the train with us for around 20 minutes before we were able to cross the train tracks and put some distance between us and Edwardsville.
Today’s drive was a far cry from the flat drive through Illinois. Missouri had an immense number of hills to scamper up and curves to navigate. ROSE took almost everything like a champion, but there were a few times where we had to get out and push the car to the crest of the hill in order to continue. When we arrived at our stage stop in Jefferson City, Missouri, we heard that the other MOVs also needed to be pushed at times. John Diekmann and Caroline Flanigan were the driver and passenger duo for the drive from SIUE all the way to Jefferson City. They spent five hours and 54 minutes in the car, the longest stint any of our drivers have seen during both FSGP and ASC. John described it as the hardest drive he’s ever made in ROSE.
Aaron Green and Jonathan Linderich climbed into the car at 3:45 p.m. and cruised by Missouri’s capitol building for the second leg of today’s journey. We were soon heading west across the Missouri countryside, once again fighting steep hills and sharp turns. We slowed at points but didn’t need to push Aaron during his two-hour stint. Just before 6 p.m., we came across Weber Seeds Inc., a seed processing and distribution facility. They kindly lended their parking lot for us to solar charge ROSE. While the car was charging, we checked every nut and bolt on ROSE to get the car ready for tomorrow and organized all of our support vehicles. At 8 p.m., we packed ROSE into the trailer and headed for our campsite. After a trying day full of adversity, everyone was super happy to relax and spend some time together as a team. Hard days like this are what make this group so great. We bond as a team when the going gets tough, and we’re always ready for the next challenge we have to face.
ROSE passes under a one-lane bridge.
ROSE is pictured at the Missouri Capitol.
Members of Team Sunergy chat with an employee of Weber Seeds Inc. while ROSE solar charges.
Jonathan Linderich, left, and Zach Howard, right, talk strategy while stopped at a checkpoint.
We woke up with the sun once again this morning. We tore down the campsite, packed the vans and headed for Thebes to solar charge ROSE and prepare for day three of the American Solar Challenge. We set off at 9 a.m. behind only Michigan’s SOV. Our competitors Iowa State and Poly Montreal were about 10 miles behind off the start, but they were soon right behind us. They followed us across the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge into Cape Girardeau, Missouri. We completed a loop around the town and traveled back across the bridge to Illinois.
The route sent us north, paralleling the Mississippi River. All three caravans were lined up on a two-lane road, which caused a stack of cars behind. Our caravan was in front, so we decided to perform a traffic dump. This allowed Iowa State and Poly Montreal to pass us and eventually beat us to the first stage stop of ASC. We carried on with our own strategy and continued north to Edwardsville. Once again ROSE encountered no issues, and we arrived at the stage stop with no stops along the way. The roads were especially bumpy and driver Zach Howard was visibly exhausted when he climbed out of the car.
Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville was extremely welcoming towards all of the teams. The campus opened up a few of their buildings for us to sit in the air conditioning, charge our phones, and shower. They also allowed us to camp on their soccer fields. In the evening, quite a few food trucks showed up on the campus and $10 vouchers were passed out to every member of every team. Many members of the local public were there to ask questions and take pictures of the cars. We really enjoyed the hospitality provided by SIUE. Before bed, we had to make some quick repairs to the charger port of ROSE, but she was soon charging at one of the charging ports on campus and almost everyone was off to bed.
The team unloads ROSE in Thebes, IL, before heading out for the day.
ROSE cruises across a set of railroad tracks.
Passenger Ariana Jones and driver Zach Howard take on day two of driving ROSE.
ROSE and its chase vehicle ride past a truck on the highway.
Everyone woke up this morning bright and early to prepare for the big American Solar Challenge send-off at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. We arrived at 6:45 a.m. for load-in and inspection. The time spent on ROSE last night allowed us to be ready to go right when we were finished with load-in. At 8:30 a.m., we posed for a picture with all the other teams competing in ASC. ROSE was in the front of the picture thanks to the hard work the team put into qualifying for second on the starting grid, first in the MOV class.
ETS was the first team to launch at 9:00 a.m. sharp. The green flag waved at 9:01 a.m. for Aaron Green and Jonathan Linderich. We made our way through the heart of Nashville, past the capitol building, and off to Devil’s Elbow. ETS’ convoy was directly in front of us and Polytechnique Montreal was right behind us when we climbed the steep hill to Devil’s Elbow. ETS’ car stalled out on the hill and we zipped by, putting some distance between ourselves and the MOV of Poly Montreal.
Aaron and Jonathan encountered no issues on the way to the first checkpoint in Paducah, Kentucky. We were the second team to arrive behind Michigan’s SOV. Our arrival time was 1:53 p.m. All of our MOV competitors, except Minnesota, made it to the checkpoint by closing time, 4:00 p.m.
All teams must stop driving by 6:00 p.m., so we had two hours to travel as close as we could to our next destination, Edwardsville,Illinois. We gave up first after performing a traffic dump. A traffic dump is when a caravan pulls over to allow faster traffic to pass. We are often traveling below the speed limit, so when six or more cars are stuck behind the team, race officials will often penalize a team for holding up traffic. During our traffic dump, both Poly Montreal and Iowa State’s MOVs passed us, putting us in third.
Poly Montreal held first until the Ohio River, where they had an issue and pulled off to the side of the road. We tailed Iowa State across the Ohio River and almost all the way to the Mississippi River. With around 20 minutes to go before 6 p.m., Iowa State pulled off into a parking lot to begin solar charging. Instead of stopping somewhere we knew would get direct sunlight and not require a trailer to bring ROSE, we decided to risk it and press on for a better spot. At 6 p.m. on the dot we pulled into a campground along the Mississippi River in Thebes, Illinois. The campsite had a direct line of sunlight to allow us to solar charge until 8 p.m. We didn’t have a single problem with the car, so once solar charging was complete we were done for the day. Everyone was in bed by 10 p.m., ready to take on day two of ASC and secure first place at the Edwardsville, Illinois Stage Stop.
ROSE starts the Electrek American Solar Challenge at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, TN.
Driver Aaron Green gets out of the car at the first checkpoint in Paducah, KY.
Ethan Corenell cools off ROSE’s solar arrays with distilled water.
The team stops at a small campsite to solar charge ROSE at the end of the day.
At 8:15 a.m., we gathered in the parking lot of our hotel. The amazing night of sleep was a hot topic of conversation while we waited for everyone to leave their rooms. Once everyone was out, we jumped in the vans and left for the Adventure Science Center in Nashville.
Once in the parking lot, we unloaded ROSE and set up our display equipment. We laid out our helmets, trophies and plaques. Many of our team members’ families came by to chat with everyone and see the car. Display day officially began at noon and ran until 5 p.m. It was a really nice, laid-back day where we all got to get dressed up and show off the things that we’ve all put so much time and effort into.
When display day ended, some team members went to eat with their families, while others ate with Stanford University’s solar car team. ROSE needed some repairs and charge in the battery before ASC tomorrow. Quite a few team members stayed out past midnight making sure everything was completely ready before the big day tomorrow.
The team poses with the second place trophy they received in the 2024 Formula Sun Grand Prix.
Blaez Jibben shows his father the inside of ROSE.
Caroline Flanigan teaches a group of kids the basics of how ROSE was made.
Ethan Cornell, left, talks about ROSE with a member from another team.
Start time for Day 3 of FSGP was 9 a.m. once again. We spent some time solar charging in the morning and moved ROSE to the starting grid at 8:30 a.m. Five other cars were on the grid for the drop of the green flag: ETS, Principia, Minnesota, Berkeley and Purdue. Our driver and passenger duo that started today was John Diekmann and Caroline Flanigan. More cars were on the track today than any of the previous two days. Many were trying to qualify for ASC, which resulted in more hectic driving and more on-track incidents. John and Caroline had a smooth drive, with a few near misses, but all in all they put some really great laps down in their four-hour-and-45-minute stint. At 1:15 p.m., they came down pit road and swapped positions with Zach Howard and Ariana Jones. John did a fantastic job at saving tires, which allowed us to leave them on for the rest of the day and save time on pit road.
At 3 p.m., a red flag came out across the entire track for a logjam in corner 19. Track officials got everyone moving again and the red was lifted. At 4:25 p.m., Zach brought ROSE down pit road so the pit crew could bring Ariana a fully charged laptop. Passengers typically have laptops in their lap that are plugged into the car, which are used to monitor all sorts of data related to battery charge level and solar charge amount. We ran a few more laps but brought ROSE down pit road once again to get a little more solar charge to the battery. While on pit lane we noticed the left front tire was down to the cords, meaning we needed two new front tires. We got ROSE back on track just in time to complete one more lap and finish FSGP.
Afterwards, we brought the car to post inspection and celebrated. Ice water was dumped on Zach just like last year. Hugs and high fives were all around. We completed 201 laps, over 636 miles, across three days of FSGP. ROSE didn’t encounter a serious problem all week. We received a hard-fought second place and are looking forward to what this team can accomplish at ASC.
After the awards, we rolled out of Bowling Green and headed for Nashville. The Bridgestone Display Day will be at the Adventure Science Center in the morning. At our hotel, everyone was extremely excited about a nice shower and a bed to sleep on.
ROSE starting the last day of the Formula Sun Grand Prix in pole position.
Pictured left to right, Chris Tolbert, Jacob Doeren, Zach Howard, Ari Romaldini and Jim Dees cheer on ROSE as the car passes on the track.
Driver John Diekmann and passenger Caroline Flanigan take the lead around the corner.
Nathan Care, far left, and Ethan Collias, far right, pour ice water on Zach Howard for finishing the last lap of the Electrek FSGP.
The second day of FSGP began at 9 a.m. Heavy thunder and rain from the night before made the track wet for the first laps of the day. Only Team Sunergy and ETS lined up on grid for the green flag, but many other cars, including the MOVs of Minnesota, Iowa State and Polytechnique Montreal, joined the track after some solar charging. Typically teams will solar charge two hours before the drop of the green flag, as per the regulations, but heavy clouds in the morning prevented much sun from reaching the cars. Aaron Green and Jonathan Linderich stayed in the car from the start at 9 a.m. until 1:15 p.m.
At 1:15 p.m., we changed all four tires and put Zach Howard and Ariana Jones into the car. Soon after they began driving, rain started to fall on the speedway. We always place tape on the fairing doors to aid with aerodynamics, but the tape failed on one of our fairings, so we pulled all four off the car.
Rain persisted throughout the later half of the day. ROSE had a right rear tire go flat at 3:15 p.m. and we pulled her into the garage to assess and replace the tire. Then we were back on the track to finish out what was left of day 2.
ROSE has traveled 133 laps (330 miles), 61 of which were today. Aaron logged 39 laps in four hours, and Zach put down 22 laps in two hours and 46 minutes. Day 2 of FSGP left us in second place in the MOV class, trailing Polytechnique Montreal by 27.15 points. We feel good about our chances and will be in the fight until the end.
Driver Aaron Green and passenger Jonathan Linderich race ahead of five other solar cars.
Blaez Jibben takes his turn as timekeeper, keeping track of lap times and penalties.
Driver Zach Howard and passenger Ariana Jones brave the pouring rain out on the track.
Kiernan Presler-Marshall, right, and Dynamics Scrutineer Byron Izenbaard make dinner for the team.
Everyone arrived at the garage at 7:20 a.m. for a morning briefing before FSGP. We set the car up for a team photo on pit lane, while Zach Howard, Aaron Green, John Diekmann, Jonathan Linderich, Ariana Jones and Caroline Flanigan attended the 8 a.m. drivers meeting. While we waited for the group photo at 9 a.m., we sealed cracks in the fairing doors and body with tape to prevent rain from getting inside ROSE.
With the photo over with, we rolled the car to third place on the grid. At 9:50 a.m., our first driver and passenger duo Zach and Ariana climbed inside ROSE and strapped in. The green flag flew at 10 a.m. and FSGP officially began! Although we were the only MOV on track when the flag dropped, we were joined by ETS, Dalhousie, Michigan, Principia and UBC for the first lap.
An hour into the event, Zach and Ariana had completed 10 laps. At 12:15 p.m., Zach and Ariana reached 21 laps, qualifying them for ASC. Aaron and Jonathan jumped into the car to complete 22 laps, qualifying themselves for ASC. After their laps were complete, John and Caroline were next in the car once the pit crew made a front tire change. A few laps later, Diekmann brought ROSE back into the pits to put on two rear tires.
John and Caroline ran until the checkered flag dropped at 6 p.m. In total, we ran 73 laps with three pit stops, two of which were driver changes. Zach drove 21 laps, Aaron drove 22 and John had the longest shift with 30 laps completed. Team Sunergy officially qualified for ASC and will be spending the next two days focusing on winning FSGP and bringing ROSE to Nashville in one piece. As of tonight, we are in first place in the MOV class, but the competition is far from over.
Team Alumni Patrick Laney, left, and Jonathan Linderich sit in the pits and strategize while ROSE runs the track.
The team poses with ROSE for a group photo before the start of the competition.
Driver and Team Manager Zach Howard gets ready as App State’s first driver in the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix.
Driver John Diekmann and passenger Caroline Flanigan race ROSE down the track.
We woke up early this morning in order to head straight for impound once again. Everything was fixed and correct, but we needed a signature from one of the other scrutineers before we could get the last green sticker, so we had to wait until after the morning all-teams meeting. As soon as the meeting ended, a few of us collected the signature and our last green sticker, while drivers, passengers and our Crew Chief Ethan Collias went for a track tour. As soon as they came back, we gathered together with our scrutineering sheets, team banner and ROSE. We walked through the garage area to HQ to the sounds of Alabama’s “Mountain Music” and cheers from other teams.
As of 9:30 a.m., Team Sunergy became the first multi-occupant vehicle (MOV) to receive all green and will be the first MOV on the starting line, third overall. We posed for a team picture outside of HQ and headed back to our garage. Everyone was feeling both relief and exhaustion. So many long days and late nights were put into ROSE this year to get to this point.
While the afternoon could have been spent resting, most of our team members spent their time helping other teams. We rebuilt Stanford’s brakes and helped McMaster University get its car rolling. McMaster shared their setbacks to
get to this competition. Our team knows what it’s like to start from the bottom and we wanted to give them every opportunity to get to some scrutineering stations and learn for the future. When we saw their car functioning and driving past our garage, our entire team came out to congratulate them.
In the evening, we scoured the whole car to make sure every single nut and bolt was tight. We mounted and inflated our tires, cleaned the body and performed some tire change practice.
The team marches past other garages to turn in their scrutineering sheets after passing the scrutineering tests.
Patrick Laney, far left, and Zach Howard, far right, help Stanford University rebuild their breaks.
Left to right, Nathan Care, Ari Romaldini, and Eli Poulsen leave the last scrutineering station with the last needed green sticker.
John Diekmann helps McMaster University with their steering column.
Waking up was a much slower process this morning. We began the day with a breakfast burrito and preparing for dynamics testing. Another all-teams meeting began at 8 a.m., and we immediately followed that with dynamics testing at 9 a.m.
Zach Howard completed the U-turn test with no problems and moved on to the figure eight test. Both Zach and John Diekmann completed those, with Jonathan Linderich in the passenger seat. John and Jonathan ran the slalom test first and Aaron Green and Caroline Flanigan went next. Finally, all three of our drivers completed the wet braking sections and we secured a green sticker at 12:45 p.m. Dynamics is one of the most time-consuming and intense stations to get through, which places a huge level of importance on completing it before any other teams.
Spirits were extremely high after we arrived back at the garage. Some naps and good food gave us the reset we needed to get the last three remaining green stickers on our list: mechanical, impound and ASC support vehicles.
After the lunch and naps, one of the scrutineers graciously came by and gave their thoughts on how we should approach impound. Electrical members then spent time working on that and ROSE’s wall charger plug. Operations and a few other members ran through ASC support vehicles to get another green sticker at 4:15 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., we demonstrated our repaired parking brake and collected a green sticker for mechanical. Unfortunately, our attempt at passing the impound inspection and claiming the last green sticker on our list fell short, and we will have to try again in the morning.
Kei Nomura, a parts manufacturer and solar car legend, stopped by our garage for a few hours after dark to talk to team members and look at our car. After his visit, the team spent time fixing the mistakes that held us back during impound.
Ethan Collias, Nathan Care and Zach Howard test out ROSE’s parking brake.
Driving ROSE, Aaron Green weaves through cones during dynamics testing.
Ariana Jones follows ROSE with the battery spill kit.
The team rushes ROSE to be the first in line for dynamics testing.
Day 1 of scrutineering began with eggs, bagels and a mandatory all-teams event meeting at 9 a.m. Event and Operations Director Gail Lueck briefly spoke, along with all of the head scrutineers. Event officials introduced all of the teams, and every team gave a chant after they heard their name. Although we were the last team introduced, “App State 828!” was the loudest chant.
At 10 a.m., scrutineering officially began. Scrutineering is an essential process where every car is inspected before being cleared to compete. The following are tested during scrutineering: electronics, mechanics, Battery Protection System (BPS), lights and vision, car body, driver and passenger weight and operations, car dynamics, and car mechanics. Teams receive green stickers when they pass a scrutineering station and are cleared to compete in FSGP and ASC. Blue stickers are similar; however, the car is cleared for FSGP only — not ASC. A yellow sticker means that more work needs to be done to pass, but the car is permitted to perform dynamics testing. A red sticker is a failure and changes are necessary to perform dynamics testing and compete.
We were scheduled for the first slot of electrical scrutineering, right at 10 a.m. After almost an hour, we received our green sticker, and “App State 828!” rang out once again. We moved next door for BPS, for the second green sticker of the day. During the mechanics test, our parking brake and steering caused us to receive a yellow sticker — the only one we got all day.
Driver registration was next on our schedule. Drivers Zach Howard, John Diekmann and Aaron Green and passengers Ariana Jones, Caroline Flanigan and Jonathan Linderich were all weighed and given ballast bags that will be kept under their seat while they drive during FSGP and ASC. The bags are designed
to even every occupant’s weight out to 176 pounds. This removes weight from affecting competition results and essentially evens the playing field. This was an easy green sticker and it set us up for driver operations and our fourth green sticker of the day. The fifth and sixth green stickers came during the body and sizing and lights and vision tests. The last two green stickers of the day came near sunset, from array testing and the safety inspection.
We spent the rest of the night eating more delicious food and doing repairs on ROSE. Electrical and mechanical members stayed up until 4 a.m. working on the parking brake and safety wiring on the back of the brake rotors. We are confident that we will receive a green sticker when we go back into mechanical scrutineering sometime tomorrow.
Pictured from left to right: Ari Romaldini, Nathan Care, Ariana Jones and Jonathan Linderich work together to pass BPS scrutineering.
Zach Howard, far right, works with two scrutineers during mechanical scrutineering.
Jim Dees, left, and Team Sunergy Lead Faculty Advisor Chris Tolbert walk alongside ROSE as the car rides to lights and vision scrutineering.
Team Sunergy secures a green sticker for driver operations scrutineering.
After a full night of rest, Team Sunergy gathered in the hotel parking lot at 7:30 a.m. for a quick briefing led by Zach Howard. Afterward, we traveled just down the road to NCM Motorsports Park, arriving at 8 a.m. App State is always first in line for load-In, and that was the case today.
Once at the track, we were given a warm greeting by Event and Operations Director Gail Lueck. A huge box of peaches was also waiting for us thanks to FSGP’s videographer, Sunny Yeung. The two hours between our arrival and load-in were spent eating peaches, tossing a football, meeting other arriving teams and lending a hand to FSGP staff.
Event registration was quick and painless because we were the first team in line. Soon after, we arrived at our garage and began unloading ROSE and all of our equipment. Mechanical and electrical sub-teams spent the afternoon working on the car, while operations set up everyone’s tents. Mechanical members spent most of their time on ROSE’s parking brake. Electrical members worked hard coding and mounting the speedometer in the cabin and making adjustments to the battery box, which was recently reworked to provide better weight distribution in the front of the car. Throughout the day, every other team — and even ambassadors from Tesla — stopped by to talk with us and admire ROSE’s new wrap.
Originally, we expected a heavy storm between 5 and 6 p.m., but no rain came and we spent the evening enjoying the sunshine, along with tacos prepared by team chef Kiernan Presler-Marshall. Members from other teams and competition officials came by to enjoy the food and share some laughs.
Zach Howard, right, greets Gail Lueck upon the team’s arrival at the NCM Motorsports Park track.
John Diekmann, right in foreground, hands out peaches given to the team by ASC videographer Sunny Yeung.
The team loads their tools and the ROSE in the garage.
The team takes a break after loading everything in the garage.
After two days of packing and final prep work on ROSE, we arrived at the shop at 8 a.m. and spent two hours packing up the vans and trailer. At 10 a.m., Team Manager Zach Howard and Co-Lead Advisor Jim Dees gave a speech to the team.
“What we’re about to do is going to finish off a lot of resumes,” Jim said. “Congratulations before we even start that you got this far. This is awesome.”
A chant by Electrical Sub-Lead Nathan Care wrapped up the pre-trip briefing, and Team Sunergy is on the way to representing Appalachian State University and all of our sponsors and donors, as well as our supporters at the Elektrek Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge.
At 5 p.m., the team arrived at the hotel in Bowling Green, which is located almost directly across the street from National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park. We split up into two groups for dinner: Half of the team went to a local Mexican restaurant, while the other half ate mac-n-cheese, brownies and root beer floats in one of the hotel rooms. We were all in our rooms early and ready to get a full night’s sleep before load-in at NCM Motorsports Park tomorrow.
Aaron Green, left, and Caroline Flanigan work together to pack the truck.
The team loads ROSE in the trailer before leaving.
John Diekmann wears a 2022’ Team Sunergy shop shirt featuring the old car wrap. ROSE, with its new wrap, in pictured in the background.
Operations members Blaez Jibben, in foreground, and Aaron Green collect safety equipment for the competition.
Team Sunergy’s members spent their last Monday before the competition traveling to North Wilkesboro Speedway. We began by preparing our vans for a mock American Solar Challenge at the team’s warehouse. A briefing by Zach Howard and Operations Lead Aaron Green prepared us for the journey down to the speedway. John Diekmann drove first, with Caroline Flanigan in the passenger seat, and encountered minimal problems. ROSE had only one unscheduled stop on U.S. 421 due to an electrical malfunction.
The team posed for a picture in front of the speedway before ROSE turned laps for the bulk of the afternoon. All three driver and passenger duos spent some time on the historic racetrack. The team posed for another picture on the start/finish line with Track Director Ronald Queen. After a long and successful testing session, the team packed up and trekked back up the mountain. Halfway up the long, steep section of the highway to Boone, ROSE came to a stop as a result of an overheated motor controller. Unable to continue, we pushed ROSE into the trailer and took the vehicle the rest of the way home.
Although the car didn’t make it all the way back to Boone, everyone was extremely pleased with the durability of the car during both of the past two testing sessions. Everyone is extremely optimistic about Team Sunergy’s chances at a successful FSGP and ASC run.
Team Sunergy poses with Track Director Ronald Queen at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
ROSE travels to Wilkesboro, passing under the Blue Ridge Parkway.
ROSE races across the finish line on the North Wilkesboro Speedway track.
ROSE racking up laps.
ROSE put rubber to the pavement once more at Tennessee’s Johnson County Airport before Team Sunergy’s departure for the Elektrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. ROSE was piloted by team members John Diekmann and Zach Howard during the morning testing session. Both are slated to drive during FSGP and the American Solar Challenge in just a few days.
Senior sustainable technology major Zach Howard is a third-year veteran of Team Sunergy and is one of two drivers this year who has been behind the wheel of ROSE during competition. Technology graduate student John Diekmann is also a third-year team member and is a first-time driver.
This was the second testing session for the team in two weeks. Both proved to be extremely beneficial for the team. Electrical members monitored the charging ability of the vehicle’s solar arrays, as well as the effectiveness of ROSE’s regenerative braking. After several hours of testing, rain arrived and the team headed back to Boone to celebrate the 4th of July.
Zach Howard is pictured in ROSE’s driver seat.
ROSE zips down the airstrip at Tennessee’s Johnson County Airport.
Members of Team Sunergy gather to watch footage from the GoPro located inside ROSE.
John Diekmann gets ready for his turn to test ROSE.
Team Email:
[email protected]
Physical Address:
Office of University Sustainability
ATTN: Solar Vehicle Team
175 Locust Street
Boone, NC 28608
Telephone:
828-262-2669
Chris Tolbert
Lead Faculty Adviser
[email protected]
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