The Wylie East Raiders solar car team claimed its third consecutive national championship on Thursday, July 23, with senior driver Trevor Scott coasting across the finish line at 55 mph on zero percent battery after the car lost power roughly 50 feet out on an uphill grade.

The Raiders finished first in the Advanced Classic Division at the 30th Annual Solar Car Challenge, a five-day, 619.8-mile race across Texas that began Sunday, July 19, in Fort Worth and ended in Fort Stockton. Twenty-four high school teams from seven states competed.

They did it in a brand-new car.

East Beast 2.0 was designed, welded, fabricated, and assembled by students during the school year to meet updated 2026 safety requirements. The team finished it two days before the race. Senior captain Jayden Guild said the only component carried over from the previous car was the wheels.

The new build faced an early scare during pre-race scrutineering when the car flipped during the slalom test. "Things did go sideways, literally," co-captain Dylan Nord told the Dallas Morning News. The team repaired it in time to compete.

Once the race started, Wylie East dominated, finishing first in its division on Days 1 through 4 and securing second overall on Day 4. But the final stretch nearly ended in heartbreak.

According to Wylie ISD, the charge controller stopped charging with 15 percent battery remaining, but the team kept going. Guild recalled the final stretch: the solar panel shut down to zero, and Scott kept calling out his dwindling power over the radio. The car crossed the line on momentum alone.

"The kids were incredibly consistent," said Matthew Karlsen, Wylie East welding instructor and current solar car sponsor. "During the race, they did their jobs. They got right to work calculating and making adjustments at every pit stop."

The competition returned to its original cross-state format after several years of racing laps at Texas Motor Speedway, routing through Palestine, Round Rock, Fredericksburg, and San Angelo. Guild called it "one big road trip with friends."

Despite winning first-place trophies for all five days, the team gave three away to competitors who kept racing through major mechanical or electrical failures. Nord said the team wanted to keep other teams' spirits up. "They were working really hard, too, and deserved to be recognized," he said.

Program founder Tony Roseberry, who started the Wylie East solar car program in the 2012-13 school year, received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Solar Car Racing at the closing ceremony. In 2013, the team finished last out of 10 teams. Roseberry said he worried the program might die when he retired, but praised current sponsor Karlsen as "the perfect fit."

Karlsen and 2026 graduate Matt Davis also received the Order of Solar Cell Award for their contributions to high school solar car racing.

Co-captain Nord designed a custom wooden steering wheel using the school's CNC metal cutter. Guild noted it stays cooler than the plastic or metal wheels other teams use.

Guild and Nord both plan to return for the team's next competition. Guild told the Dallas Morning News he considers the solar car race his true finish line: "I like to think that after the solar car race, then I'm officially done with high school."