Scott Tolbert, team adviser, said an electronic component for the car's fuel cell, the main power unit, needed to be replaced.

After successfully completing the first leg of the tour, from Austin to Weatherford, Texas, the UND car had to be towed on a trailer to Broken Arrow, the second checkpoint.

"We were doing some checks of the system and the fuel cell was giving us a lot of error faults. The computer components are really sensitive," Tolbert said.

The team again will trailer the UND car to a checkpoint in Omaha, Neb., where new parts are being delivered.

To make matters worse, not only is the experimental hydrogen car on the fritz, but the team's towing van, part of the North Dakota state fleet, is broken down, too, Tolbert said.

The team will meet UND alums John "Jack" Nepper, a major contributor to the design technology of the UND car, and Ray Kobe in Omaha.

Kobe will join the team in Omaha and travel with it throughout the rest of the race.

Also, the family of UND team member Josh Howland is following the team from start to finish in a recreational vehicle.

"They're taking a family vacation, and they're coming with us all the way to the finish line," Tolbert said.

UND's hydrogen-fuel-cell model is racing as an exhibition against a field made up entirely of solar-powered vehicles. No times or rankings are being recorded for the UND car.

The UND team is slated to pass through Grand Forks on Friday, on a leg from Fargo to Winnipeg. It will pass through Grand Forks from the south on U.S. Highway 81 onto Washington Street.

Other racers may be arriving in Grand Forks as early as today.

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