GREENSBORO, N.C. (WFMY) -- North Carolina has long been racing country and Wyatt Bailey is no stranger to cars and how they work.
Bailey, a junior at Appalachian State University (ASU) and Burlington native, would tinker with his truck when he was younger, delve into small projects here and there.
In college, Bailey linked his interest in sustainability with his knowledge about cars to create something exciting. Bailey joined 'Team Sunergy,' at ASU, helping build ROSE.
ROSE, short for Racing on Solar Energy, is the school's rock-star race car that's traveled the country in its infancy. It's run in the Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge. Sunergy has about 40 members.
Bailey was one of the designers for the chassis and the roll cage. He also worked to build the suspension.
Bailey praised the group's dedication to the project, noting they were determined to get the car ready for the summer's races. The group had hard deadlines to meet in order to have the car prepared for the road. Bailey said it usually takes around two years to build a solar car.
"We would spend 15,16, sometimes even 20 hours a day trying to build this car," he said. "We were working pretty much everyday between classes."
The group started in the fall and didn't put the finishing touches on until the start of the Grand Prix last month. The team reached Nebraska several days early for the race and spent that time testing components.
ROSE sports a futuristic look with a long front, two seats inside and a good trunk for its size.
ROSE qualified for the American Solar Challenge in July. The team drove along the Oregon Trail, starting in Omaha, NE and ending in Bend, Ore. After finishing in around 63 hours, the team tied for second in its class.
The Challenge involved a lot of strategies, with teams balancing their need for speed while constantly monitoring the battery level. Bailey said the car got roughly 280 miles out of a single charge going between 40 and 50 mph and with one person in the car. All rules of the road, including posted speed limits, had to be obeyed.
"I would say the car exceeded our expectations as far as how well we would do," he said.
You can learn more about Team Sunergy and ROSE on their website.
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