Power Drive Team WINS Two Championships!!
by Mikal Hawk revised by Alex Berg
May 07, 2009
The B-R Power Drive team won its fifth state championship and
second consecutive Saturday, May 2nd. After months of preparation
and hundreds of man-hours, the Bancroft-Rosalie Power Drive team
and 40 others finally made the trip to Mid-America Motorplex in
Pacific Junction, Iowa for the Power Drive Championship. The team
brought along the advanced class A-21 car and the standard class
S-20 car. In the state championship, cars are scored on five
different categories: Documentation, Braking, Design/Construction,
Maneuverability, and Endurance.
The day started off as the A-21 and S-20 cars were checked in and
inspected. Both cars passed with flying colors, and driver J.
Henning was soon taking the cars to their limits in the braking and
maneuverability portions of the championship. In the braking and
maneuverability trials, these aspects of the cars are tested, thus
forcing teams to make a better, safer, more rounded car. In the
braking portion, the car must travel at a speed over 15 mph and
come to a complete stop. The car that stops in the shortest
distance is the winner. The maneuverability portion requires cars
to weave through cones spaced 25 feet apart while being timed. The
S-20 earned 3rd place in braking, and maneuverability, while the
advanced class A-21 car received 2nd in maneuverability and did not
place in the top 3 in the braking.
The endurance rally is the main event. It is the most exciting, and
crucial part of the championship. The S-20 car, driven by M. Hawk
and C. Irwin drove in the first heat completing 21 laps in one hour
without complication. The A-21 car, driven by D. Muller and R. Mohl
ran 22 laps in the second heat. Both cars finished with a
disappointing third place finish in the endurance rally. For any
other cars this may have been a disappointing end to their day. But
B-R cars are different. No other cars placed near as consistently
well as the Bancroft Rosalie cars. Junior J. Henning said, “I was
really happy about how the cars handled in braking and
maneuverability, and I really expected the cars to place high, but
I was ecstatic about winning two championship trophies. It couldn’t
have been a better day.”
The team won two overall championship trophies with the A-21 and
S-20 cars: and on top of that Bancroft-Rosalie took home three
other much coveted awards: D. Muller won the Paul High Power Drive
Scholarship Award, M. Hawk won the Power Drive Sportsmanship Award
Bike, and the team as a whole won an award of appreciation
recognizing their support and contributions to Power Drive.
