Power Racing Series

Power Racing Series
Formation2009
FounderJim Burke
Type501(c)(3) organization
PurposeAmateur electric-vehicle racing and engineering education
Location
  • United States
Websitepowerracingseries.org

The Power Racing Series (PRS) is an American amateur racing series and nonprofit organization in which participants build and race electric vehicles modeled on children's ride-on toy cars. Founded in Chicago in 2009 by Jim Burke and members of the hackerspace Pumping Station: One, it expanded to Maker Faire events around the United States. Teams compete for race results and for audience-awarded "Moxie" points based on presentation and entertainment.

Competition format

A Power Racing Series event at Maker Faire Detroit in 2011

The cars retain elements of a children's ride-on vehicle but can be rebuilt with new frames, batteries, motors, wheels, and controls. The series uses a capped modification budget to keep entry affordable and encourage resourceful engineering; the limit has varied between seasons, from $500 in 2013 to $600 at a 2025 event.[1][2]

Events have included sprint and endurance races. In addition to points for finishing position, spectators can award Moxie points for a team's theme, vehicle decoration, costumes, and other crowd entertainment.[3][4]

History

Burke and a friend developed the idea after finding a motorized toy car in a Chicago dumpster in 2009. Burke and colleagues at Pumping Station: One began modifying and racing similar vehicles, with six teams taking part in the first event on a vacant lot.[5][3]

In 2010, Pumping Station: One expanded the competition to Maker Faires in Kansas City, Missouri, and Detroit.[6] The Detroit event included drag, road-course, and endurance races.[7] More than 20 teams participated during the 2011 season, many representing hackerspaces in the Midwestern United States.[3]

By 2013, the series reported 29 certified teams and a five-event schedule spanning California, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, and New York.[1] It continued to expand nationally; a 2019 profile described events in cities across the country and emphasized the competition's role as an accessible engineering challenge.[5]

The organizing body later became a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit and broadened its educational activities to include grants, do-it-yourself fairs, and a combat robotics league.[8] The series remained active in 2025. A race at Maker Faire Lynchburg that year drew teams from several states, including four cars from the University of Indianapolis.[9]

A Power Racing Series event at Maker Faire Bay Area in 2019

References

  1. 1 2 "Hackers, start your motors, if you can". Machine Design. May 22, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Experience Innovation in Action at the 2025 Shreveport-Bossier Maker Faire". Downtown Development Authority. April 11, 2025. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Baichtal, John (July 26, 2011). "Hackerspace Happenings: Power Racing Series Gears Up for Maker Faire". Make. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  4. ↑ Scherr, Elana (February 6, 2014). "Pow-Pow Power Wheels". Hot Rod. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  5. 1 2 Villareal, Luis (June 27, 2019). "Getting the keys to innovation". Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Power Racing Series: Up next". Time Out Chicago. October 11, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  7. ↑ Wojdyla, Ben (August 1, 2010). "Power Wheels Racing: Fat Men On Souped-Up Toy Cars". Jalopnik. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  8. ↑ "About Us". Power Racing Series. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Race to the Finish" (PDF). Vita Abundantior. Randolph College. Spring 2025. pp. 34–35. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
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