Members of the Formula Car Team at the University of Missouri-Rolla spend a lot of long nights at Lowe’s and Wal-Mart – after the stores have closed.
"It’s hard to find parking lots big enough to test our car," says Valarie Boatman, one of the UMR students in charge of building a racing machine that can go from zero to 60 mph in a little more than three seconds.
Each year, a team of UMR students designs, builds and tests an open-wheeled, "Indy-style" racing vehicle in anticipation of the Formula SAE competition, which is held in a really big parking lot, the one belonging to the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan.
This year’s competition is scheduled for May 19-22, when the UMR team, which has an annual budget of about $40,000, will pit its car against vehicles from around the world.
The UMR car weighs less than 500 pounds. About 60 students are involved in creating their racing machine, from computer modeling to welding the car’s steel frame. At the Formula SAE competition, they are judged in design and performance categories.
Six members of each team are allowed as drivers in the performance categories. The teams compete in acceleration tests resembling drag races and in an endurance test. Although the cars reach speeds of 65 mph, Boatman says "the average speed is probably 35 mph. The course is tight, and they want to keep it safe. Typically, only about a third of the cars will finish the endurance race. They break down."
The UMR car didn’t break down in 2004. In fact, the team finished fourth overall; and they are rapidly gearing up for this year’s competition. In April, they are testing their car in a wind tunnel at Ford Motor Co. in Detroit. Team members believe extensive testing will definitely help them in the design portion of the competition.
One formula car enthusiast and high-ranking university administrator, Wayne Huebner, thinks big things await team members after their racing days at UMR are over. "This is a really good thing to have on your resumes," Huebner told a group of the students. "You guys are going to get really good jobs."
Interview with UMR Formula Car Team
KUMR feature on the team as it prepares for the 2005 competition, hosted by UMR's Vice Provost for Research Wayne Huebner
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