With high gas prices, many drivers would love a different energy source to fuel their vehicles. A group of college students have found an enlightening alternative, something they call "going blue."

It may look like something that should be flying through the sky, but instead, 15 of these vehicles rolled into Bellevue Toyota. They are racing from Texas to Canada using nothing but the sun's energy.

Tyler Coffey, part of the University of Minnesota Solar Car Team, is familiar with Omaha. He's a 2005 Millard South graduate. “It's been kinda nice just having family and friends show up to support us and give us cookies and things."

His team is part of the North American Solar Challenge, a race that's been a long time coming. "This race was supposed to be in 2007, but due to funding issues, until Toyota stepped up, there wasn't going to be a race."

Jim Duffack, owner of Bellevue Toyota, was pleased to have his dealership as a stop site. "I wanted to be a part of it because of the excitement of it, the new generation of technology. Toyota's the leader in the industry with hybrid cars now, heading to fuel cell cars and possibly, who knows, maybe solar cars."

Although these cars are capable of going up to 70 mph, race regulations do keep them under 65, and on a cloudy day like Wednesday, they can't sustain those speeds. "We're going at 30 miles per hour," says Coffey.

Although Tyler's an aerospace major, he's taking away many helpful skills.

"It's a practical engineering project. You learn everything in classes, but doing that you wouldn't be able to sit down and design a real thing and this teaches you to think on your feet, how to look at a problem and find out the best way to solve it."

Even if he doesn't get an inside view from the car. “I'm too tall, we design our car for someone who's about 5-foot-11, is about the maximum and that's fairly uncomfortable. I'm 6-foot-4 so I wouldn't be able to fit."

He’s enjoying the 2,400 mile road to the finish line from behind the wheel of a support van. The teams were headed to Sioux Falls where they will spend the night. They still have a long stretch ahead of them. The race ends in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 22nd.