BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Electric, solar-powered cars roamed the Motorsports Park racetrack in Bowling Green.

These aren’t traditional gas powered cars. The solar-powered cars use everything the sun offers. The racers were participating in the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix, which runs through Thursday, July 18.

College students from around the country and world are entered in the race.

Eashan Gupta, the project lead for Virginia Tech’s team, said “It starts from the solar panels, goes to our battery, our high-voltage battery system, which then goes to our motor.”

Gupta helped start his team three years ago, and now can finally compete in the Grand Prix at the NCM Motorsports Park.

Gupta said, “I poured three years, my extracurricular time, all went into this project.”

The racers will drive eight hours a day, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and they will do the same thing Thursday.

The Grand Prix is used as a qualifying race to enter future races. To qualify, racers must complete 205 miles in one day on the track or complete 308 miles in two consecutive days on the track.

Sidney Lavoie, with Team 92, said, “You have three days, eight hours a day to do it, so the winner of this event is the one who makes the most laps.”

During the Grand Prix, the racers will stop and get their cars fixed up. But unlike NASCAR, these racers use duct tape to fix their machines to keep things going which, according to Gupta, is a common practice in this field.

Gupta said, “I wouldn’t say duct tape is ideal, but it works, especially now, because if you look up, there’s a forecast for rain. And, we got to make sure we’re waterproofing as good as possible. So, we’ll be using some plastic sheets, some saran wrap and duct tape to cover any holes we have.”