Classes are out (which implies people had been going recently), tents and trucks are accumulating around campus, and cmubuggy.org has just switched on a bunch of new features. It must be raceday!

Our front page has been updated with links to and descriptions of all of our raceday specific amenities, but I’ll recap some of the new exciting one here

• Ask the Broadcasters – Our team of buggy alumni, WRCT sportscasters, and cmuTV producers have been preparing for a long time now to deliver another high-quality broadcast.  One thing they’ve wished for in the past was that viewers were able to “call in” with questions about the races as they’re going.  Now you can.  Just hit up the link above and throw out a conversation starter (it probably makes more sense to wait until the broadcast starts).
• cmubuggy.org mobile – Buggy has always been ahead of the times when it came to composites and rubber compounds, but lately buggy fans on the move have been wishing they could follow the races from their phones.  Hit up cmubuggy.org/m from your web-enabled phone and you’ll get an assortment of raceday necessities in phone-friendly format.  It’s a bit bare bones on the aesthetics at the moment, but that way it’ll work on more phones.
• Heat by heat view – Last year was the first time that pushers, drivers, and buggies were listed online for every team.  It’s good to get that stuff recorded for the history, but it’s also a great tool for fans.  This year, we’ve organized it so that you can follow along heat by heat and have all of the background information you need.  How old is that buggy?  What is their B team record?  What did they get last year?  No more searching around the history section, it’s all in one place, right when you need it.
• Raceday Buzz – We also debuted this one last year, but it should work even better this time around.  Alumni watching the webcast from around the world shouldn’t be stuck without like-minded folks to banter with!  Hit up the link, choose a name, and see who else is around.
• Leaderboard – This one isn’t much different than last year except that this year, the times will be entered immediately by the head timer (me) as they as soon as they hit the screen on the timing software.

We hope you are packing your bags if you’re not on the road already, but if you can’t make it back to the ‘Burgh, we hope these features bring as much of the action to you as possible.  For those in town, we hope to see you soon at design comp, the races, the BAA reception on Friday, or at the History of Buggy.  Schedules for each are on the front page.

It’s Carnival!