They look more like miniature spaceships than the Corvette George Maharis drove in the TV series "Route 66," but these cars have the same mission: conquer the road between Chicago and the Los Angeles area.

In what could be called a blast along a road from the past, the American Solar Challenge (ASC), to be held July 15-25, 2001, will follow Route 66, where many traveling Americans developed their passion for the open road. The cars will make the trip without using a single drop of fuel. The ASC will be the longest solar car race in the world

at 2,300 miles. Unlike past U.S. solar car races, the ASC will feature as many as 60 solar-powered cars built by a variety of organizations - university teams, companies, clubs, and individuals worldwide.

ASC's mission is to advance renewable energy and electric vehicle technologies, promote educational and engineering excellence, encourage environmental consciousness, and teach teamwork. The race also provides hands-on experience for engineering students, enabling them to build their technical skills for the new century's marketplace.

In addition to the start and finish points, the solar cars will stop at 13 checkpoints along the route: Springfield, Illinois; Rolla and Neosho, Missouri; Tulsa, Edmond, and Sayre, Oklahoma; Amarillo, Texas; Tucumcari, Albuquerque, and Gallup, New Mexico; Flagstaff and Kingman, Arizona; and Barstow, California.

Sponsors of the race include the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, and Terion in Melbourne, Florida. DOE will provide $400,000 to race organizer New Resources Group to support the planning, management, and conduct of the race.

Companies or other organizations interested in co-sponsoring or supporting the event should contact Dan Eberle, race director, Formula Sun, P.O. Box 30, Freeman, MO 64746,(800) 840-5511 or deberle@formulasun.org. Those interested in supporting a particular team should contact that team directly. A list of participating teams as well as race regulations and roste information is available online at http://www.formulasun.org