5 teens work to transform '98 Cadillac into prize-winning racecar

GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) — If you picture a racecar, you probably won't think of a 1998 Cadillac DeVille.But a group of teens in northern Michigan is working to transform one into a vehicle capable of winning a $50,000 first-place prize.

Few people on the planet understand the inner workings of a 1998 DeVille as well as the members of Team Bentley Racing. Theteenagers are from the United Kingdom, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Traverse City, Michigan, and the team is named after Bentley the dog.

They'reracing in the 24 Hours of LEMONS series.

"It's [an] endurance racing for amateurs and people that are interested in cars, but don't necessarily have the experience or funding for it," said Sridula Senthil.

Rules say the car can't be worth more than $500.

"It has presented a couple issues here and there, but we still love the car," Sridula said.

The five aspiring automotive engineers met last summer while interning with Ferrari in Italy and have kept in touch ever since.

"We just sort of Facetimed as much as we could, sort of kept in contact, and then sort of after Christmas, we sort of kicked it up and began weekly meetings," said Alice Hudson.

The car was bought, flights were booked and for the last two weeks Team Bentley has been in Elijah Klee's garage, teaching themselves how to build a racecar. The other members are Louis Papera and Harrison Mitchell.

None of us have ever done this before. So yeah, it's definitely a learning experience every single day and that's kind of what we all love about it. There's always something new to learn," Sridula said.

They're learning how to build and race a car.

"It is racing, you do want to be as fast as possible. But to finish first you still have to finish," Mitchell said.

"To have a bunch of 18-year-olds working together on a passion project, it's really, really cool," Papera said.

Come race day, they may not get the checkered flag, but the experience and the relationships formed means they may have already won.

"I feel like I've made friends for life. We're really talking about next year and the year after. So, I think we'll be going for quite a few years now," Hudson said.

This installment of the 24 Hours of LEMONS takes place in Joilet, Illinois, on August 12 and 13. Those who want to follow along and learn more about them or the race can go tothis website to learn more.