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FORT WORTH — The hot Texas sun may be putting a damper on our energy, but that isn’t the case for these sweet rides!

Texas Motor Speedway embraced the sun and welcomed 29 stem groups from 14 states who are taking part in the “Solar Car Challenge!”

“We wanted to find some way that we could take a kid out of the classroom and give him some kind of project-based experience. So why not let them build a solar power car?” Race Director, Dr. Lehman Marks said.

Alejandro Molina, one of the participants from Wylie said, “Solar power is an unlimited resource. We have our sun. It’s better than using our power plants that consist of releasing fossil fumes. It’s probably the cleanest energy we have on this Earth.”

The challenge was created to get students motivated about all things science and involves a seven day, cross-country journey from Fort Worth to Palmdale, California, which is around 1300 miles.

But there won’t be any gas stops along the way because these babies run on 100%  pure sunshine!

“The competition’s pretty fierce. They’ve all got pretty good cars,” Molina added. “Every team’s first hope is that we’re coming in first, but I know for sure we’re gonna take first place this year, without a doubt.”