10/1/2016 NASCAR DC Solar 350 “Show & Shine”
NASCAR staged the DC Solar 350 Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, beginning at 5:30 PM on Saturday, October 1.
On Saturday morning from 10 AM to 3 PM, Star Nursery, KVVU-TV Fox 5, KKLZ-FM radio and the Las Vegas Review-Journal co-sponsored a pre-race festival that included a 2nd annual “Show and Shine” car show to benefit local children’s charities.
There were 211 car entries in the event that raised over $35,000 for Speedway Children’s Charities:
http://lasvegas.speedwaycharities.org/
This year, the Show & Shine car show included an “Electric Car” category with awards for first and second place judging.
LVEVA members Evan Eskelson, Jim Katzen and Stan Hanel participated in the electric car category of the “Show & Shine” event.
Evan Eskelson exhibited a 1987 Aztec 7 kit car EV conversion, that was sponsored by a donation of ten 12-volt DC batteries from Enersys/Odyssey Battery company.
The EV conversion has been built on a Volkswagen Bug chassis with a fiberglass body that included gullwing doors. The body shape and style had been modeled after a 1980s Lamborghini Countach car design with a sharp wedge front and foldaway headlights.
Jim Katzen exhibited a vintage 1981 Jet Electrica electric car, built by Jet Industries on a modified Ford Escort glider.
An integrated charging system recharges both the traction battery pack and the auxiliary pack through one central electronics unit.
DC Solar provided portable ChargePoint CT4020 AC Level 2 stations and 110 VAC outlets mounted on trailers that were powered by photovoltaic solar panels and a storage battery pack to recharge the electric cars.
Both electric cars at the Show & Shine event were able to recharge their traction battery packs from sunshine while exhibiting at the car show.
DC Solar also sponsored the DC Solar 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck series race that night, that included a chase competition among the top eight NASCAR truck series drivers.
DC Solar power generation trailers were also used to provide LED tower lighting to multiple locations around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway complex.
DC Solar trailers also supplied power to a Busch Beer Garden and other vendor exhibits during the pre-race festival.
Video billboards with changing advertising displays could also be mounted on a DC Solar trailer and powered from the photovoltaic solar panels and battery backup power systems attached to the trailer.