Wild Hare Racing reaches new level of success

Building more time into the testing cycle for the race car that Wild Hare Racing club team members built for this year’s contest allowed the team to place the best it has in at least eight years.

The South Dakota State University team competed in the internal combustion engine division of the Formula SAE contest at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, west of Detroit and Ann Arbor, finishing in 29^th place out of 117 teams, which included top U.S. college teams as well as entries from Spain, Brazil, Italy and Canada.

In fact, the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain, won this year’s May 12-16 contest with 909 points out of a possible 1,000. SDSU’s finish put it one place behind the University of Texas and one place ahead of Duke University.

Teams are judged on static categories — the oral presentation, cost to build the car and its design — as well as dynamic categories, how the car actually performs. Those are acceleration, the skid pad test, the autocross race, vehicle fuel efficiency and the endurance race.

Since 2022, SDSU has competed at the Formula SAE event in Michigan and hasn’t placed higher than 61^st in those years. In fact, 2026 was the school’s best placing ever at Michigan and the best placing at an Formula SAE event since 2018.

Built in time for testing

“In the past, we finished a couple of days before the competition and didn’t have time to test it sufficiently,” said Riley Gill, president of this year’s Wild Hare Racing club and the car’s suspension lead. “This year there was better project management and timelines, so we had time to thoroughly test it and make sure there were no problems.”

The car’s first test drive was March 27, which gave the students five weeks to test and tweak before the end of the school year.

The students used that time to tweak the suspension, reduce the car’s skid pad testing time and improve engine performance through two dynamometer sessions at a shop in Sioux Falls. Unlike last year, when a differential failed, this year’s team had no mechanical issues to deal with at Michigan International Speedway.

Doug Peters, an instructor in the mechanical engineering department and the club’s adviser said, “The success of the team can be attributed to many factors including a lot of hard work and dedication by the team members, team leadership, commitment to a timeline and a schedule that allowed for testing and practice with the car. 

“All (19 students) were active and contributed throughout the five-day event. Student leaders Keith Schenkel, Riley Gill, Chase Maher, Matt Sorenson and Kaylee Caron were outstanding. They encouraged younger team members to be involved with the design, fabrication and assembly of the car and had them participate in the design and cost presentations during competition.”

Eleven of the 19 team members were returnees from 2025, plus graduate student Matt Sorenson joined. In addition, seven freshman got experience.

Team builds almost entirely new car

The Society of Automotive Engineers contest challenges students to conceive, design, fabricate and race small formula-style racing cars.

Gill, who graduated in May with a mechanical engineering degree, said Wild Hare Racing uses much of the same design plan from year to year. However, 80 to 90% of this year’s entry was built from scratch. Only the engine and shocks weren’t new.

One of the team’s better events was the endurance contest, which is 13.7 miles — five laps with one driver and then a driver switch for another five laps.

Gill said their car went 25 to 45 mph in the corners, and 60 to 70 mph in the straightaways. Peters said that is the contest’s capstone event. “Many teams were unable to finish the event, but the SDSU car performed flawlessly.”

While Gill was one of the two endurance drivers, he said a contest highlight for him was the design judging, where students meet with vehicle design experts “and they really challenge your knowledge. I was the suspension lead last year also, and last year was a little rough for me. This year we got 20 out of 25 points in suspension.  

“The judge said he had the best conversation with me out of any of the 10 teams he judged. That was a big compliment for me.”

Peters said, “The team has set a new standard this year and hopes to build on this foundation to achieve higher levels of success for coming years. They have already been discussing some design changes and ideas to improve the car for next year’s competition.”

Team members:

• Seniors: Riley Gill, Hutchinson, Minnesota; Chasten Maher, Hutchinson, Minnesota; Keith Schenkel, Sioux Falls; and Matthew Sorenson, master’s student, Mission Viejo, California.

• Juniors: Kaylee Caron, Eden Prairie, Minnesota; Kaden MacPherson, Plainview, Minnesota; and Joseph DeBates, Sioux City, Iowa. 

• Sophomores: Jackson Kramer, Hutchinson, Minnesota; Marko Minga, Sioux Falls; Tyler Post, Rock Valley, Iowa; Andrew Sternhagen, Brookings, and Sean Turner, Yankton.

• Freshmen: Matthew Brost and Tyler Brost, both of Sioux Falls; Ethan Ericsson, Brandon; Isaac Hruska, Mantorville, Minnesota; Grant Lehmann, Farmington, Minnesota; Ethan Leimer, St. James, Minnesota; and Aidan MacDonald, Lakeville, Minnesota.