Solar racers fight poor weather

Although a dark cloud has followed racers the whole way, the cross-countrysolar car competition reaches the half-way point today. The Iowa StateUniversity team started Sunday in Washington D-C in the pole position andquickly fell back to 15th. Since then, the 29 cars have trekked throughVirginia and the Carolinas and are now headed for Atlanta, where they’ll geta day off. I-S-U team captain Allen Ihlefeld says the biggest challenge sofar has been the weather. I-S-U’s car left today in 5th place. In pastyears, drivers have gotten overheated inside the tiny plastic-domed carswhich are reliant on rays of sun. The sun-powered cars take off againSaturday, headed for Orlando to conclude the 13-hundred-40 mile journey.