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Five Flags Speedway welcomes electric race cars from across the country

Written by
Josh Cooper
News Journal correspondent
www.pnj.com

If the future of the automotive industry is electric cars, then Pensacola got a glimpse of the future as it sped by on Saturday.

The fourth annual Emerald Coast Electrathon Classic Race was held Saturday at Five Flags Speedway. The race brought high school and college students from across the Southeast to race their self-built cars.

Thirteen teams from across Florida, Arkansas and Texas competed in two 60-minute intervals around the half-mile track to rack up as many laps as they could. Pensacola High School and Pensacola State College represented the Gulf Coast’s science and engineering innovation.

The race was sponsored and held by Electrathon America, an electric car racing company, SkillsUSA, an education program designed to show students the values of science and mathematics, Gulf Power Co., and Five Flags Speedway. The race was held in conjunction with the SkillsUSA 2012 World of Possibilities Career Expo that is currently at the Pensacola Civic Center until May 2.

Vaughn Nichols, an electrical engineer with Gulf Power, said he has been involved with electric cars since 1995 and has been involved with Electrathon for 13 years.

“I look for ways to involve students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,� he said. “What a wonderful way to learn how a car stores energy!�

Nichols said he hopes this race will help generate more community interest in engineering.

Each car was designed, built, restored or repaired by high school or college students, many of them driving several hours to compete in the event.

Nick Gupta, 17, and Dylan Dalrymple, 17, juniors at Pensacola High School seemed to be optimistic before the race. They said their team has put a lot of man-hours into their car and they were pleased with their progress.

Gupta said he worked on the mechanical side of the car. He spoke of some of the high and low points of the project.

“It’s a lot of hard work,� he said. “We’re just a group of students working on this.�

Dalrymple said he did much of the electrical work for the car and was happy with the car.

“I’m proud of the outcome,� he said. “If we could finish this race, that will be awesome.�

Many of the cars were not very big and required the drivers to multitask in the driving operations.

David Cochran, an electrician student at Pensacola State College, said the race had some difficulties, but overall it went pretty well.

“I thought it was good,� he said. “It performed the way we thought it would.�

Nichols said he was very proud of the students who participated in the race.

“It’s not about how fast you go, but how far you go,� Nichols said.

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