Annual edible car contest to return to IVCC on Feb. 26

Illinois Valley Community College’s popular Edible Car Contest is back for its 19th year, testing the skills of dozens of competitors and thrilling audiences who cram the racing arena to cheer on their favorite vehicles.

The annual contest will be Wednesday, Feb. 26, in the College Cafeteria. Registration begins at 10 a.m., judging is at 11:30 and racing begins at noon. College faculty and students and teams from area junior high and high schools compete in time trials for medals and bragging rights in several categories, such as the fastest, sweetest, best designed, most creative or best overall.

The edible car concept surfaced two decades ago while Computer Aided Design instructor Dorene Data and IVCC representatives promoted the College’s engineering program. Edible cars were a refreshing change from the robots that were popular demonstrations at the time, and food proved to be more obtainable and affordable than electronics components, she said.

Over the years, salami, cheese, rice cakes, pasta, tortillas, tacos, pretzels, Twinkies, bananas, donuts and lots and lots of Rice Krispies treats were molded into odd-looking vehicles with at least three wheels and two axles – and sometimes carrying marshmallow Peeps drivers.

Every item used to make the car must be edible, even if the entry is not very mouthwatering by the time it reaches – or does not reach – the finish line.

“Choosing sturdy, operable ingredients to fashion a moving object uses science, engineering and math skills,” Data said. “Even chemistry comes in handy to keep an ice cream carriage from melting before the race. Outside-the-box thinking is critical, too.”

IVCC’s MIMIC project and the Workforce Development Division sponsor the contest in recognition of National Engineering Week. For more information, visit https://www.ivcc.edu/ediblecarcontest .