​NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — The Illinois State University Solar Car Team held a special send-off event as they prepare for a big competition in the coming weeks.The students on the solar car team have been working all year long to build a solar car from scratch. They will be taking this car to the Electrek American Solar Car Challenge in Minneapolis, where they will compete in a two-part challenge.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Our event coming up is an endurance competition. There are two sections of it. There is a track component, and there’s a road component,” said Mac Brody, president and mechanic lead for the ISU solar car team. For the track we drive, we have to work with other cars.”“There’s a safety inspection for four days where we test everything from your drivers to all your mechanical and electrical components, everything to make sure everything’s safe.”The road portion of the competition involves the car driving 1,500 miles from Minneapolis to Texas.“Depending on how we place there, then we can start on the road component of that. And then we drive on public roads for 1,500 miles until we reach Amarillo, Texas,” Brody said.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhile this competition is helping the team learn more about solar technology, it is also teaching them life skills they will take with them after graduation.“It’s really been important for us to make sure that everyone gets leadership opportunities. That’s a big one. We work on a lot of communication skills and we work with a lot of tight deadlines,” Brody said. “Being able to balance all of that at the same time with everything else, it can be a little chaotic.”“Being able to take all that information and take all of the data and all of the supplies that we have to come up with a thought process, a plan, communicate it with the rest of the team, and then execute is definitely a big skill that I’ve learned.”The team hopes they can also spread more awareness about solar technology to help save some of the limited natural fuel sources in the world.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CIProud.com.