MANKATO — The past few days at Nitro-X Summer Camp have all come down to this.
On Thursday, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders gripped their controllers as they guided their RC cars through a race track that took over the Center of Renewable Energy parking lot at Minnesota State University.
The 12 southern Minnesota students would race for trophies after a few test runs.
Jackson Johnson, who is going into eighth grade at Prairie Winds Middle School, said his racing strategy involves trying to stay more in control rather than just going for speed.
He shared why he was interested in joining the three-day camp.
“I love driving RC cars, and something that’s been really fun about it has been hitting all the jumps that they have,” he said. “(The cars) are really easy to take apart and then reassemble to get everything working.”
Fellow camper Grant Stadtherr said he enjoys how fast the cars drive, adding that they can go between 20 to 25 mph.
Camp counselor Paul Steevens said this is the second year the Nitro-X Summer Camp, put on by the Minnesota State Transportation Center of Excellence, has come to MSU.
The camp also goes to other cities and colleges as well, with the goal of getting younger kids interested in transportation careers.
“(The Center of Excellence) primarily did high school events,” Steevens said. “Then they decided, ‘We need a younger group of kids. How do we get this younger group of kids into automotive stuff?’ And so they started Nitro-X.”
Throughout this week, the students have done everything from learning how to operate the cars to painting and assembling the bodies. They also learned how to fix minor maintenance issues.
But Steevens, who works doing research with the automotive engineering program on campus, said the camp is also a way to connect with the students.
During the camp, the kids got to take different industry tours as well.
“This is just part of outreach. How do we get any younger kids? And today we have as many parents here as we have kids, just to see what we do here at the college,” he said. “This is a great way to get kids into the transportation industry.”