Where we go from here

Today was our display day in Plano at the City Centre. It went really well (aside from the heat, of course), and many people came to check out Tigergen. We had her sitting with the body separate so people could see the insides of the car, which is by far one of the more interesting aspects of the car. Not too many people get to see a fuel cell or a 5,000psi carbon fiber and polyurethane hydrogen tank up close, and explaining Tigergen's process is always one of the more exciting parts of events like this (at least for me- I blame the whole journalism personality). Explaining why we weren't continuing on the race was also tough, but overall we've been in pretty good spirits. I sometimes loathe to say it, but we kind of expected it.

For those not too familiar with Tigergen I's history, we have had more than our fair share of hardships. Even just in the year that I have been on the team, we have overcome more than I think is fair.

We originally planned to run the Great Race 2008 in May. This came after over a year without having a race in mind, and we were ecstatic to compete in such a high caliber race. By April, we learned the race was postponed indefinitely. This had already come after building failure after failure, redesigning crucial parts time and time again, and many, many more issues that I didn't even experience.

By May we joined the North American Solar Challenge. We had participated in this race with our SunTiger cars before, and done well each race. We ran as a demonstration car, meaning we wouldn't compete for placement. We would run the track just to show we could. But the race officials had made the race worthwhile for us- they were understanding of our predicament and went through so many measures to make sure we could still compete.

Then we came to Cresson, completely unprepared-- and that's probably an understatement.

While the other teams were testing and de-bugging, we were building. When teams were passing scrutineering, we were building. When teams were on the track driving and qualifying, we were building. Every day we built and tested and then rebuilt. By mid-week it was a horrible game of catch-up, and the cards were definitely not in our favor.

There aren't too many excuses for this though: too many times we fell behind on deadlines; too many times we made silly little mistakes; too many times we didn't double check our work.

But the decision came down to one thing: safety.

The car itself can drive. However, not the driving we should feel comfortable with. The body rattles and shakes; the temperature inside the car was easily 30 degrees hotter than anywhere outside; the canopy door didn't properly latch. Friday we managed to fry a circuit that we didn't have a replacement for it. One thing after another worked against us.

It was a tough decision to make, but honestly we had no other choice. The car just isn't safe enough to drive on the road yet. Give us another month, and we'll be there. We'll have everything done, and we will be able to drive without the fear of injuring others-- or ourselves.

With that said, we would like to thank all of the NASC officials and the other teams that made this experience a whole lot less desperate for us. We would not have made it to tonight if not for all you did for us. Thank you.

Also, thank you for all the support you all have given for us. The emails of encouragement and understanding have made this decision a little less depressing. Again, thank you all so much.

We hope to see you in Neosho!

(Photos and video tonight, I promise!)