In an electrically charged race against the clock, Rep. Mac Collins drove a pint-sized Ford Mustang around a track and won $500 for Jonesboro's Rainbow House in the third annual Kmart Kids Race Against Drugs.

“Drug and alcohol abuse are some of America's most difficult problems,” Collins said. “This is why we have to be driven in our fight against drug and alcohol abuse.”

The annual event puts congressmen and senators in electric miniature race cars which they then race against the clock on a closed track. Kmart donates $500 to the favorite charities of the elected officials after they complete their laps. Collins, who got his start in business driving trucks, put his little green Mustang through its paces and clocked a respectable 26.95 seconds for his lap.

The quick little electric cars impressed the congressman, who said he has an intense interest in electric vehicles.

The Kmart Kids Race Against Drugs is a national program aimed at educating children between 7 and 12 about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. Kmart donates $5 for each participating child to a local drug or alcohol abuse prevention charity in the 85 cities it visits.

Boys and girls divisions compete in three age groups in specially designed race cars to win scholarships and other prizes. Winners get the chance to compete in the National Championships in Orlando, Fla., in January 2000.

The national prize winners will receive $10,000 college scholarship annuities which mature on their 18th birthdays.

The race is sponsored by the Kmart Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization. It has donated more than $6 million to drug and alcohol abuse prevention organizations through grants and grassroots programs like Kmart Kids Race Against Drugs. It expects to give an additional $3 million in 1999.