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Students' Car Pulls Off A Shocker

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By LAURA FRAZIER

lfrazier@tampatrib.com

Published: March 3, 2009

TAMPA - Teacher Vic Nieves had modest expectations for the fledgling electric car club he sponsored in a race against a dozen other teams Feb. 14 at the University of South Florida.

"If we don't crash or have the wheels fall off, it'll be a good day," Nieves said before the race. "Our goals are to have fun, don't wreck the car and don't finish last."

In the end, the 9-foot long, battery-powered dragster the club designed and built in Nieves' automotive technology class at Brandon High School saw the finish line and took the checkered flag.

The first-year club came in first place with the first car students designed and built.
Nieves attributed the win to workmanship, driving skills and team effort.

"These guys just worked on this thing like a bunch of beavers," he said.

Drivers navigated the lightweight cars on a makeshift course in the parking lot of USF's College of Engineering. The track challenged drivers with several sharp s-turns and - for the Brandon team - a few speed bumps.

Driver Eric Daub had to set the car upright after a spill in the second of two hourlong runs. Then the voltage reading dropped and the dragster slowed to a crawl 15 minutes before the end of the race.

"I was like, 'Ah, man, I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish this,'" Daub said.

It was a white-knuckle moment for Nieves, who was tempted to tell the crew to stop the car for awhile to conserve battery power.

"With a wide-open throttle, it was going just a little faster than walking speed," Nieves said. "But Daub was able to keep the car going, and we won the whole thing."

Other schools represented were USF, and Middleton, King and Tampa Bay Technical high schools. Schools from the Florida Panhandle and upstate New York also competed, along with individual hobbyists from Fort Myers and Cape Canaveral.

Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523. Keyword: Electric Car, to see a gallery of photos taken at the race.

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