Wisconsin Baja races at 2026 SAE Competition in New York

The Wisconsin Baja team had a great time at Hogback Hill in Palmyra, NY racing their disco-themed car Boombox in the June 2026 Baja SAE competition.

Incoming team president Lileigh Nguyen shared a recap of the experience. The team ultimately placed 21st overall!

On the first day, the team arrived in New York at around 3am and spent the morning preparing for the Technical Inspection all the cars needed to go through to be able to race. The team completed Engine Check then breezed through the Technical Inspection which took up the majority of the afternoon.

On day 2 of the competition, the team competed in the Full Cost Audit—an event reserved for teams at competition that performed well in the initial cost audit due before arrival at the track. The team placed 12^th out of 100 teams! Wisconsin Baja Racing also competed in design presentations, meant to demonstrate the incorporation of the engineering process into our car. Tying for 14^th, the team had a great showing. They ran some laps on the practice track then got prepped for Dynamic Day on day 3 of the competition.

Some failures with the CVT set the team back on Dynamic Day, but after some time in their pits, they were back and competing in every event: acceleration, hill climb, maneuverability, and suspension & traction. There were some good rolls and some better saves by the drivers, and the team wrapped up the day preparing for the Endurance Race.

The last day of competition sees 100 teams wheel-to-wheel in a 4- hour race through a 1.5-mile track filled with jumps, mud pits, and obstacles. A failure an hour into the race with a lower control arm had the team breaking out the welder, but after the fix, their car was back on the track and competed for another 2.5 hours, ultimately making up over 20 places and finishing 23^rd out of the 102 teams at competition.

The team placed 21^st overall, and while a couple breaks set them back in terms of score, the experience was invaluable and will feed into another amazing performance next season!

Special thanks to incoming team president Lileigh Nguyen for sharing photos and event summary details.