Corona Aims at Racing on Last Day

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., June 28, 1999 -- New Mexico Tech's Corona will be transported on the back of a trailer into Ocala, Fla. today in hopes that foregoing the next-to-last day of racing in Sunrayce 99 will allow the solar-powered vehicle's batteries to charge up enough to be able to finish the final leg into Epcot on its own sunshine-provided power.

During this past weekend's stages of the solar-powered road rally, Corona moved up a notch in the overall standings to 27th in the 29-car racing field.

Teams from colleges and universities throughout North America, including New Mexico Tech, have been racing through five states the past nine days, from Washington, D. C., toward tomorrow's finish at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort, just south of Orlando, Fla. The team with the lowest cumulative time over the 10-day road rally wins Sunrayce 99.

The top three finishing teams will receive trophies and cash awards. Scholastic achievement awards will also be granted for technical innovation, engineering excellence, artistic talents, teamwork, and good sportsmanship.

The biennial solar-car race was created by General Motors and the U. S. Department of Energy in 1990 to promote educational excellence in mathematics, science, and engineering by offering students a unique and highly valuable "hands-on" educational opportunity. Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) joined GM and the DOE as a co-sponsor of the event in 1993.

-NMT-