OMAHA, Neb. -- More than two dozen college students are making a cross-country road trip, but high gas prices aren't getting them down.

The cars they're driving run on the power of the sun. The University of Kentucky's solar powered car rolled into Omaha on Wednesday afternoon as the teams made a pit stop to recharge and take care of any tuneups.

One of the drivers of the tiny vehicles -- Nich Such -- has roots in Omaha. He lived in Nebraska for eight years and said there's a lot more to the race than just the driving.

"I've been in the backseat the last leg of the ride sewing covers. We have to help waterproof things. We've got people working on strategy -- should we go forward? Should we hang back and catch some sun?" Such said.

Such said strategy is key to winning a solar-powered-car race. There was sun on Wednesday to keep his team running, but what about tomorrow?

"Tomorrow looks pretty rainy once we get to Sioux Falls, so we're getting into the strategy part of this," Such said. "We built our car. It works. Now what do we do with it?"

Even in a cloudless sky, it's no quick trip to the next stop.

"We've been cruising mostly around 40 in the sun and about 20 in the clouds," Such said.

The finish line is in Canada.

Such said that he believes the car he's driving may not be the answer to energy problems, but said he feels there are many components of the car that will help get Americans away from oil for travel.

His team is currently in the No. 9 position out of 14 solar-powered cars.