The Wylie East Solar Car team earned their second national title last month in the Advanced Classic Division. Courtesy photo

The Wylie East Solar Car Team recently defended their national champion title in the Solar Car Challenge at Fort Worth’s Texas Motor Speedway. The team earned this honor in the Advanced Classic division for the second year in a row at the competition which took place from July 20 to 23.

“22 teams were on the track, and six of them were in our class. Only two Advanced cars beat our mileage,” Matthew Karlsen, team advisor, said.

This year’s challenge was a track event, meaning awards were given based on the number of laps instead of mileage. According to Wylie ISD, the team won with a total of 579 laps around the track. In addition to their national title, the team also placed first on days one, two and four of the competition. 

The team worked throughout the school year and summer to ready their car for these accomplishments. Driver training also took place during this time.

“We had four new drivers that had experience in parking lots and a little road time before they raced the car, and they did great,” Karlsen said.

As individuals, students Nolan Plunk and Jude Ramirez each received the Order of the Solar Cell award.     

“This award is for team members that display what the Solar Car Challenge is all about,” Karlsen said, listing sportsmanship, kindness and devotion as a few of the characteristics exhibited by award recipients.

The team’s three advisors witnessed both back-to-back victories for Wylie East. Karlsen said repeating this win gave the team confidence by showing they had a successful design and the driving skills to take on Texas Motor Speedway.

The students will go back to the drawing board this school year as they build a new car to follow the competition’s rule changes. 

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