University of Missouri-Rolla students attempt to break the world human land speed record.

They traveled by car on Friday to Battle Mountain, Nevada to test out a specially-designed vehicle.  Only this one doesn't run on gasoline, ethanol or even electricity.  We met up with the team before they left and learned their vehicle requires a lot of brawn.  But, in a race against some of the world's fastest athletes, these local competitors are hoping their brains will give them the edge.

We found them working like they were on the clock of a paying job.

"If we're not in class, we're working on the project nonstop," said Jerrod Bouchard, UMR senior and the vehicle’s driver.

All of the students who worked on the vehicle are college students at the University of Missouri-Rolla.  And when they talk about listening to metal, they think of the sounds coming from their campus shop.

"We spend all our extra time working as opposed to going off and partying or whatever else you might do as college students," added Bouchard.

And that’s not the only difference they have with many college students.

"We believe we can break the record,” said Bouchard.  “The numbers look good."

For a year and a half they’ve been chasing after the human powered vehicle land speed record which is currently 61 miles per hour.

"We've calculated how fast we can go and it's looking pretty optimistic," said Bouchard.

To prepare for the trip to Nevada, the group tested out their vehicle at the Gateway International Speedway in St. Louis.

"Now we're dialing everything in and making changes from the trip to St. Louis,” explained Bouchard.

It’s an experimental process that isn’t always a smooth ride.

"Had a little accident the other night, and I got a little skinned up as you can see," said Bouchard as he showed off scabs on his arms.

But he has to be careful not to get too banged up.

"I've been on restricted duty,” Bouchard said.

He’s the only member of the team that can drive the vehicle.  That’s because not only is Bouchard the only one of his team members small enough to fit inside, but everything from the crank, the interchange to the hub are designed specifically for the shape of his legs.

"It's 15 3/4 inches wide on the outside, 15.5 inches on the inside,” explained team member and UMR senior Andrew Sourk.  “So, Jerrod is pretty scrunched up in there.  There's just a half an inch clearance around his foot.  We made sure to make it as small as possible to cut down on wind drag."

Besides the tight squeeze, Jerrod also has to concentrate on balance and limited air supply.

"It's so small he can run out of air in a few minutes,” said Sourk.

And, did we mention he’s going up against former Olympic athletes in this competition?

"We don't have that level of depth in our athleticism, but we do have an engineering background that some of them don't have and we hope that will give us an edge on them," explained Bouchard.

After all, in addition to all of their work on the vehicle, they are college engineering students.  A fact we were reminded of when asking about the driver’s pre-race diet.

“Mostly fast food,” Bouchard responded.  “Mostly because we're on a major time crunch.”

It’s time-consuming work with no payment; just the possibility of world-wide glory.

“It's looking pretty promising!” said Bouchard.

The UMR team will get six chances to break the record this week while they're in Battle Mountain, Nevada.  The town is home to a remote highway with one of the straightest, fastest, smoothest surfaces in the world.  The team already won two national collegiate championships earlier this year with a human powered vehicle.