27th Supermileage Challenge featured 17 E85 cars (and 1 was painted like a corn cob)
Hosanna Biffert (left) and Amelia Welter turned heads at the 2015 Supermileage Challenge earlier this week with their E85 car painted like a corn cob. This was the first time Biffert and Welter have participated in Supermileage Challenge, held annually at Brainerd International Raceway and sponsored, in part, by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.
“We liked the idea behind ethanol and corn,” Biffert said. “We wanted to show our support for corn, so we got the frame built and repainted it like a corn cob.”
A total of 48 schools participated this year, braving the rain and cold to see who could travel the longest distance on a single gallon of fuel. Click here for a more in-depth summary of what the Supermileage Challenge is all about.
There were 17 cars in the E85 class this year and we have pictures of most of them below. Alden-Conger High School took first in the E85 class with 565 miles-per-gallon (mpg). Second went to Eden Prairie with 226 mpg. Henning clocked in with 221 mpg to take third.
Winners in other classes were as follows:
- Electric — Braham (6,645 mpg)
- Exhibition — Birchwood High School (Wis.) (454 mpg)
- Experimental — Alden-Conger (379 mpg)
- Modified — Alden-Conger (961 mpg)
- Stock — St. Michael-Albertville (403 mpg)
THANK YOU to all of the students who put in a lot of hard work to get their cars up and running for Supermileage this year. This was the 27th annual Supermileage Challenge and Minnesota’s corn farmers have supported the event for 26 of those years. It’s a great way to connect with the next generation of drivers and “gearheads” about ethanol, and help students improve problem-solving and engineering skills while participating in a meaningful competition.
Here are photos from the two days of competition. Unless noted, all cars pictured are from the E85 class.
