WE WON!!! 6TH TIME CHAMPIONS!! TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY FOR THE SUNDANCER TEAM!! WE ARE GETTING READY FOR THE BANQUET... I WILL TRY TO GET SOME PICTURES ON TONIGHT! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED US THROUGHOUT THIS RACE, IT KEPT OUR SPIRITS HIGH!

The Last Day

This morning we got here to find that we had received a four lap penalty yesterday for going too fast out off of the track! On the other hand, we found out that they took 2 laps off of our penalty from the first day. We had gotten this penalty for not sounding our horn, but the race officials decided to remove the horn penalties from all of the teams. The Sundancer Team has had a great day so far, and hopefully it will continue. This morning Caleb Alford drove the open division car, and Stefanie Barkley drove the classic division car for about the first hour. In her first hour her speed demon side came out and she pretty much drained the batteries. Then Alisha Holder got and in only made one lap before having to pull in. This afternoon, Lance Whitworth is driving the open divison car for the first 2 hours and Roderick Wiley will be finishing up the last hour. Andrea Westmoreland is driving the last of the laps today for the classic divison car. We are very excited about everything, especially all the good luck we have had since we got to the race.

THIS IS ME GETTING READY TO DRIVE, SKEETER IS GIVING ME LAST MINUTE POINTERS!

Blake McCoy stays hyrated in the hot Texas sun by drinking some gatorade!

Day Three

Today was day three of racing. In the morning session Tyler Davis drove the open division car and Caleb Alford drove the classic division car. Everything went smoothly and both drivers did excellent. In the afternoon session I (Leigh Springer) drove the open division car and Blake McCoy drove the classic division car. We both did very good too, and no I am not just saying that because I was driving. I was really nervous to begin with but before I was finished with the first lap I was completly confident and was going very fast. It was so much fun to get to drive around the track! I also got a little too hot, so when I got out of the car after 3 hours my legs were like jello and thankfully Andrea and Stefanie were there to catch me and take me to the media center where I could cool off and the race medical advisior could check me out. I am okay though, I just needed some water and to cool off. Both cars had a great day racing and I even completed 72 laps in the open divison car. I am really excited about tomorrow, and the team is still working great together, which is one of the main reasons everything is going so well! I would also like to thank everyone that had been viewing our blog, it is amazing to pull it up and see that so many people are following us each day! We have one last day so be sure to look tomorrow for the final results!!

Andrea had a heat rash on her face so we covered her with some cream to make her better! Isn't she cute!
Mrs. Coker came to see her favorite girls!

Matt is loving some McDonalds! SPECIAL THANKS TO MY MOTHER SUSAN GEORGE FOR MAKING SURE WE ALWAYS HAVE FOOD AND EVEN POPSCICLES SOMETIMES.

First and Second Day Race Updates

The pictures you see below that were posted were from yesterday, our first day of racing. I was so tired that I failed to get them on last night. If you would like to see more pictures you can go to www.winstonsolar.org/race and click on pictures that is located on the left side of the screen. Yesterday was a really good day for us. Roderick Wiley drove the open division car and Lance Whitworth drove the classic division car. Both drivers did awsome. On the first lap for the open car Rod had to pull off because our radios had problems, but we managed to get it all worked out and had him back on the track in minutes. Then later on in the day he had to pull off because he ran out of air horns, and everytime you pass on the speedway you have to sound your horn. Again, we managed to get him horns quickly and get him back out on the track very quick. Lance drove great considering it was his first time to every drive on the speedway. He gave the classic car all it had for about the first 2 hours, then the last hour he had to go really slow and even had to pull it off the last 30 minutes because we used all of our energy. This was not a problem though, we just got it charged up for today. This morning when we got here and found out that we had recieved an 11 mile penalty from yesterday. This penalty was given for our batteries, for passing without sounding a horn, and for passing during a caution time. Now about today, we are in our third racing session at the moment. This morning David Peel drove the open car and Ericka Medders drove the classic car and like Rod they did awsome. Right now Andrea Westmoreland is driving the classic car and Matthew Jernigan is driving the open car. They are both doing great. The open car is in first and the classic car is in 3rd. AND IF YOU ARE WONDERING, YES IT IS EXTREMELY HOT!! We are glad it is very hot and sunny though, it helps us! Our team is doing great, everyone's spirits are still high and everyone is still working together really well! Mr. Reese is making it okay too! He has been great! I will try to get some more updates tonight so everyone will know what is going on.

In this picture, Tyler Davis, Caleb Alford, and Blake McCoy align the tires on the Sundancer before it goes out on the Speedway.

opening banquet

This is me and Leigh with the captains from the Newburgh, NY team.

This picture was taken July 16 at the opening banquet. The entire Sundancer team is represented in this picture, as well as our sponsor from Schott Solar, Brian Lynch.

The Parade at Fort Worth Stock Yards

The following two pictures are of Stefanie. During the parade a guy had a huge bull so we went to pet it. When we turned around our car had left us, so we took off running. Stefanie caught her foot in a hole and then tripped over it a fell flat on her face in front of everyone DURING THE PARADE! She scraped her knee up and elbow up pretty bad. Her knee is even swelling up, but she took one for the team (HAHA). She is okay so it is alright for us to laugh about it now. The picture below is of us and the other teams getting water. Gale Hunsucker provided us with free ice water during the parade which was great because it was really HOT! This picture was made in front of her business Rodeo Exchange. Thank you so much!!

Scrutineering Session Two

Session do was driver qualification. The Sundacer got David Peel, Roderick Wiley, and Matthew Jernigan qualified, and the Sundancer II got Stefanie Barkley, Andrea Westmoreland, and Lancer Whitworth. The race officials would only allow each team to qualify three drivers on each car because there are so many teams this year they are worried that every car would not be able to qualify drivers if each tried to get more than three.

Today the Sundancer also got a penalty because our batteries weighed over 275, which is the max battery limit, and since we were 11 pounds over the limit we got a two lap penalty. This means that we start with minus two laps.

About Today

Scrutineering is where each car qualifies to be in the race. Today in scrutineering session one we had to go through three stations, 1. Meeting General Requirements, 2. Electrical and Battery Requirements, and 3. Tilt and Turn Radius Check. Thankfully both cars passed all stations. It was really hot outside, but it was still fun. We met new people and saw people that we had met last year. All of the cars look great, including ours. The Sundancer team had a really good first day, everyone got along and everything that needed to be accomplished was. All of our team members made sure that nothing was left undone and really worked together as a team. Tomorrow we are scheduled to have scrutineering session 2 and then after lunch we are off to Fort Worth to the Stockyard District for a parade!

Scrutineering Session One

Tyler is hard at work getting the accessory battery installed in the Sundancer II!
This is Andrea, Stefanie, and Me(Leigh) this is after being in the hot sun all day!!