Day 7 of the American Solar Challenge continues the run to Scotts Bluff National Monument, which marks the end of Stage 3:
Michigan is well in the lead, and reported overnight positions for most other teams are on the map below. Based on NASA’s “Earth at Night” image, this map also highlights the sparsely populated nature of the last part of the route:
The positions on the map range from about 300 to 640 km (200 to 400 mi) from Scotts Bluff, which means that Michigan will arrive this morning, whoever is in second place will arrive some time after 1:30 PM today (Central Time), and some of the tail-end teams will be struggling to make it by the end of the day without trailering. I wish all teams good running and bright sunshine!
The early morning in southern Nebraska is partly cloudy today, as seen in the picture above (click for the live webcam it was taken from), although the sky in Broken Bow, NE seems more promising. Recent local news coverage includes:
- The Beatrice Daily Sun (highlighting the Michigan team)
- The West Plains Daily Quill (highlighting the Poly Montreal team)
- The Scottsbluff Star Herald (encouraging people to follow the GPS tracking that won’t work in Nebraska)
Update 1: Michigan (2) were first to arrive at Scotts Bluff, and Toronto (77, below) were second, with Dunwoody/SER (51) third, Principia (32) fourth, and Missouri S&T (42) fifth.
Here is the timing board as at stage stop closure, corrected to be in Central Time:
Update 2: Here is another view of the beautiful stage stop:
Someone at the US National Park Service created the fantastic race poster below (the NPS partnered with the race as a way of celebrating their formation on 25 August 1916).
Update 3: Here is a race chart for the top 5 cars, based on the unofficial timings to Scotts Bluff, and incorporating all Stage 1 and 2 penalties, plus recurring daily penalties for Stage 3. The chart shows that cloud really slowed everybody down today. Toronto (77) and Dunwoody/SER (51) are absolutely neck-and-neck for overall second place, with Principia (32) not far behind. The last stage tomorrow will be a nail-biter after all!
The cloud today meant that other teams had to trailer, including Iowa State, Minnesota, ETS Quebec, and Appalachian State. And here is one final view of end-of-day charging:
Scientific Gems 