A Brownsville all-girls team built a race car from scratch and placed third at a national competition in Alabama.

The seven-person team competed in the Greenpower USA national competition, a STEM program that challenges students to build their own electric race cars and race them.

They competed against 89 other teams in their division for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and were the only all-girls team in the competition.

"It's mesmerizing. When I'm out there, I usually don't talk because I just focus on driving because I have no words to explain how beautiful it is," Veronica Ibarra said.

Ibarra was the team's driver. Aimee Gaytan, 14, is the team's engineer and pusher.

"We always said that to be successful, we need to understand where we come from, and these girls know that, and they're humble," Brownsville ISD racing team coach Jorge Jasso said.

Jasso says the team's strength and grit helped push the girls to the finish line.

"Before the race started, I asked my girls to get some tape to tape to their wrists, and I said, ‘write down with a Sharpie who you're driving for,'" Jasso said.

Jasso said a lot of them put family, their community, and some put those that were no longer here.

Jasso says the girls built the car from scratch, adding that the girls had to analyze and make the car as efficient as possible.

For Gaytan, this was her final year with her middle school team.

"I found a lot of friendships in this team. I found my future career in this team," Gaytan said.

Ibarra also credited her teammate for making the journey possible.

"I just want to give a huge credit to Aimee because she helped me very much, and she's the one who supported me through the ins and outs," Ibarra said.

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