The American Solar Challenge is on again this year, with scrutineering beginning on 27 July. Here is a list of the 12 teams (8 Challenger/SOV cars and 4 Cruiser/MOV cars, all from the USA) registered for the race. Regular attendees Florida, Mich St, Northwestern, SIUE, Sunstang, and UT have not registered, nor have WSC stalwarts Michigan, Blue Sky, or Stanford. In addition, sadly, Waterloo, UBC, Missouri S&T, Esteban, NJIT, Apollo, Eclipse, Bridger, GVSU, KU, UPRM, Cairo, and Durham have dropped out. Teams are sorted in team number order and, as always, you can click the social media links, and click images to zoom. You can also check out the official ASC social media at 
(click on the icons).
This year, Kentucky, CalSol, Illinois St, Ga Tech, and AppState have existing cars; the other teams are intending to race newly built cars. I'm picking Minnesota, AppState, and PrISUm as favourites in the Cruiser (MOV) class, with CalSol, MIT, and Illini likely to dominate the Challenger (SOV) class.
Symmetric challenger (Gato del Sol VI) – they will be back again, after doing well at FSGP 19. They have a good, well-tested car, which recently ran its own Kentucky Solar Challenge, so they should do quite well. Current status: veteran car.
Previously, Kentucky came 14th at FSGP 14; came 10th at FSGP 15; came 12th at ASC 16; came 7th at FSGP 17; and came 3rd at FSGP 19.
Asymmetric challenger (new car: Nimbus) – they have said goodbye to Flux, and have built a new car. As a top team, I expect them to do well. Current status: new car revealed; left home.
Previously, MIT came 23rd at WSC 15; came 12th at FSGP 14; and came 5th at ASC 18.
Symmetric challenger (Zephyr) – they are a late addition to the ASC list. They raced their Cruiser in Australia as number 66 (read about their Australian adventures here), but this time they are racing their older (Challenger) car. Current status: veteran car; left home.
Previously, CalSol participated in the WSC 19 Cruiser class; came 15th at FSGP 14; came 7th at FSGP 15; came 9th at ASC 16; won FSGP 17; came 6th at ASC 18; and came 2nd in the FSGP 19 Cruiser class.
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: credit (click images to zoom) Two-seat cruiser (new car: Eliana) – their early completion of the car puts them in a solid position for the race. Current status: new car revealed.
Previously, PrISUm participated in the WSC 17 Cruiser class; came 3rd at ASC 14; won FSGP 15; came 7th at ASC 16; and came 5th in the FSGP 18 Cruiser class.
Symmetric challenger (Mercury 6) – I believe that they are returning with an improved version of their existing car. Current status: veteran car.
Previously, Illinois St came equal 16th at FSGP 14; came 3rd at FSGP 15; came 11th at ASC 16; came 5th at FSGP 17; came 12th at FSGP 18; came 7th at FSGP 19; and came 13th at Abu Dhabi 15.
Monohull challenger (new car: Brizo) – they have replaced the Argo that they raced before. As a top team, I expect them to do well. Current status: new car revealed; left home.
Previously, Illini participated in the WSC 17 Adventure class; came 7th at ASC 18; and came 4th at FSGP 19. Their team number (22) is a tradition since 1995.
Asymmetric challenger (new car) – they are building a new car to replace Farasi, and hope to complete it in July. Current status: construction in progress.
Previously, W Mich came 7th at ASC 14; came 14th at FSGP 17; came 9th at ASC 18; and came 5th at FSGP 19. Their team number (30) is a temporary replacement for their usual number (786 – the sequence of digits for S-U-N on old phones), to recognize the 30th anniversary of the team's first race in 1990.
Asymmetric challenger (new car: Ra XI) – it is great to see this team returning to ASC. Current status: in Topeka.
Previously, Principia came 17th at WSC 15; participated at WSC 17; came 5th at ASC 14; came 5th at FSGP 15; came 5th at ASC 16; came 13th at FSGP 17; came 2nd at FSGP 19; and came 6th at Abu Dhabi 15.
Four-seat cruiser (new car: Freya) – they are America's Cruiser class pioneers. With their impressive record, they are probably the Cruiser class favourites. Current status: new car revealed; left home.
Previously, Minnesota came 4th in the WSC 13 Cruiser class; came 5th in the WSC 15 Cruiser class; participated in the WSC 17 Cruiser class; came 5th in the WSC 19 Cruiser class; came 2nd at ASC 14; came equal 10th at ASC 16; and came equal 2nd in the ASC 18 Cruiser class. Their team number (35) is derived from the Interstate 35 highway.
Monohull challenger (Endurance) – they raced this car at FSGP 19. It is quite narrow, at 1.25 m. They have had their first mock race for 2021, and have also given the car a new aerobody and vinyl body wrap. The car will also get a new array. In the longer term, they will replace this car with a Cruiser. Current status: veteran car.
Previously, Ga Tech came 13th at FSGP 15; came 17th at FSGP 16; came 6th at FSGP 17; came 8th at ASC 18; and came 9th at FSGP 19. Their team number (49) is taken from STS-49, the maiden flight of the space shuttle Endeavour (which was the name of their first car).
Two-seat cruiser (new car: SPX) – they failed scrutineering at FSGP 19, but are feeling very positive. This video tells their story. Their current plans involve modifying a commercial ICE vehicle. They are only intending to attend the track race (FSGP). Current status: left home.
Two-seat cruiser (ROSE) – they had been planning to race at WSC 19, but ran into logistics problems. They are making several improvements to the car for ASC 2021, and they stand a fair chance of winning the Cruiser class this year. They also have a hot new vinyl wrap. Current status: veteran car; in Topeka.
Previously, AppState came 6th at ASC 16; came 2nd at FSGP 17; and came equal 2nd in the ASC 18 Cruiser class. Their team number (828) is the telephone area code for western North Carolina.
This page last updated 00:12 on 27 July 2021 AEST.
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