MSU autonomous racing team takes first place at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

Team Polimove-MSU is a collaboration between Michigan State University, Politecnico di Milano, with the University of Alabama, took first place at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca event in California on July 24, 2025 as part of the Indy Autonomous Challenge, or IAC.

The IAC brings together public-private partnerships and academic institutions to challenge university students around the world to imagine, invent and prove a new generation of automated vehicle software to run fully autonomous race cars and inspire the next generation of STEM talent.

Polimove-MSU competed in a field of eight, featuring university teams from North America, Europe and Asia. The event included a time trial competition of the world’s fastest autonomous race cars piloted by artificial intelligence driver software, which were developed by these teams.

“This victory is a testament to the incredible talent, dedication and innovation of our students,” said Judd Herzer, director of MSU mobility. “By competing — and winning — in autonomous motorsports at the highest level, they’re gaining hands-on experience in robotics, AI and advanced autonomous vehicle systems that you simply can’t replicate in a classroom. Spartans aren’t just learning about the future of mobility, they’re building it.”

The vehicles traversed a 2.23-mile-long course with 11 turns, including “The Corkscrew.” Infamous in racing circles, the elevation of this turn drops the equivalent of a 5.5 stories in only 450 feet of track length. From Turn 8 to Turn 9, the elevation falls 109 feet, or just over 10 stories.

“Laguna Seca is a tough racecourse, with cars having to navigate its famous Corkscrew,” said Daniel Morris, Polimove-MSU team advisor and associate professor in the College of Engineering at MSU. “Two teams spun out during qualifiers on this stretch of track. In the finals, our competitor, Purdue, put in a super-fast lap at just over 1 minute, 30 seconds. Fortunately, we managed to best that with a final lap time of 1:29.79. It's been a blast pushing the boundaries of autonomous racing with our teammates.”

This is the fourth victory for the Polimove-MSU team out of seven IAC events to date. Previous wins included: IAC Simulation Race at CES, Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Sponsors of the Polimove-MSU team include the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, DENSO North America Foundation and the MSU Research Foundation.