Posted on | by Bryan Arsham

WELCOME TO RACEDAY WEEK KICKOFF

The BAA is once again holding our lead truck auction this year, and the auction for the Preliminary Heats is now LIVE, and closes at 11:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 18! You can start bidding here.  It’s the one chance you (or a buggy fanatic in your life) have of being right in the middle of the action on Raceday. You’ll sit in the back of the lead truck for whatever race(s) you can win!

Proceeds help with all the costs of putting on such a spectacular event. Due to limited sponsorship this year, the BAA will be directly sponsoring the races with funding to cover the Jumbotrons this year.

This year, we have a couple of changes, some big and some small, to the auction.  Below are the changes for this year:

Unique Experiences – This year, in addition to a seat in the lead truck, we are also auctioning off 2 additional unique experiences for the buggy fanatic in your life:

  • Commentator For A Heat – Join Will Weiner and your fellow Buggy Alumni in the broadcast booth for a heat! From drops to drops, get to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as your buggy commentary goes out, live, on WRCT, cmuTV, and the course. Be interviewed and share your unique buggy experiences from your time at CMU, in addition to assisting in the call of a race. The winner will get the opportunity to request the organization (or organizations) that he or she wishes to be in the booth for, and we will do our best to accommodate your request.  The Buggy Alumni Association will contact the winner to coordinate specifics.  Please be aware that radio broadcast standards will apply to your commentary (in other words, please keep your commentary G rated).
  • Kick Off A Race – Be the “guest starter” for a heat on Finals Day (Saturday) of Raceday 2018! Enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to count down and signal the start of an individual exhibition race. The winner will be responsible for initiating the 10 second countdown at the starting line, saying “ready-set” and triggering the starting buzzer. The Buggy Alumni Association will contact the winner to coordinate specifics.  Please note that this unique experience is subject to the sole discretion of Sweepstakes and the Pittsburgh weather. Time and weather permitting, you will have the opportunity to be the starter as described above, but we cannot guarantee that the exhibition heat that you are assigned to start will be run or that other unforeseen circumstances will not arise.

LIVE, IN-PERSON Finals Auction – For the first time ever, the BAA will be running the auction for the Finals Heats LIVE AND IN-PERSON on Friday Night, after the heats themselves have been announced.  The Buggy Recap and Finals Auction event takes place at Hough’s Taproom, 563 Greenfield Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15207, during an event that begins at 7:30pm on Friday, April 20.  Light refreshments will be provided by the BAA, and additional food and beverages will be available for purchase.  Please make sure that you arrive no later than 8:00 p.m. in order to participate in the auction.  Even if you do not plan on bidding, please come and hang out with your fellow Buggy alumni as we recap Friday’s races, watch the auction craziness, and maybe even some other surprises!

If you want to bid on a Finals Heat but you are unable to attend the live event, don’t worry!  We will still accept bids from people who are not available to attend.  Please download the BAA Proxy Bidding Sheet and return the completed form to barsham@alumni.cmu.edu no later than 6:00 p.m. on Friday, April 20.  Further instructions are included on the document, but if you have any specific questions, feel free to email me at barsham@alumni.cmu.edu.

Here’s how the Preliminary Auction works:

  • The Preliminary Lead Truck auction (including Unique Experiences) IS NOW OPEN. You can start bidding here.
  • Just like last year, we will run the auction on a third-party website. You will need to create an account with the auction site, and you can set up email alerts if you are outbid. Each heat will have a $10 minimum bid, and each Unique Experience will have a $5 minimum bid. The minimum bidding increment is $1. You may specify a maximum amount you wish to bid for any heat. Then, the site will automatically increase your bid in $1 increments as needed until your maximum is exceeded by someone else.
  • There will be separate auctions for each heat of Day 1.
  • Bid as much as you want, as often as you want until the auction closes at 11:00pm EDT on Wednesday April 18th

Additional notes for both auctions (Preliminary and Finals)

  • We will send out an email to the winners, along with instructions on how to collect your winnings.
  • On Raceday, check in WELL BEFORE your heat at the BAA tent between the finishline and broadcast booth and sign the waiver. Then you must be in the lead truck on Hill 1 before the start of your heat. If you’re late, then you miss your chance. The BAA cannot be the cause of delays.
  • Lead truck rides are transferable. If you can’t be in town or don’t like trucks, feel free to bid on an auction and then tell us who gets to take the ride. You can also just will it to your organization of choice and we’ll let the lucky team pick who gets to ride. All riders must be at least 18 years old.

If you have any questions, be sure to email me at barsham@alumni.cmu.edu or comment below, we want to address as much as we can before the auction.

We are, of course extremely thankful to sweepstakes for allowing us to use a spot in the lead truck to create this opportunity and raise some money so that the Buggy Alumni Association can pursue its mission to support buggy.

Fine Print Details

  • All preliminary heats will be auctioned simultaneously.  Finals heats will be auctioned during the live event.
  • The bidding for the Preliminary Heats and Unique Experiences will start at 9:00am EDT Monday April 16th
  • Bidding on the Preliminary Heats and Unique Experiences will end at 11:00pm EDT Wednesday April 18th
  • Bidding on the Finals Heats will take place during the Buggy Recap and Finals Auction event beginning at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 20.
  • Payment must be received before winners take their rides. Credit card payment will be available and is strongly preferred. Cash and Check will also be accepted at the races.
  • All winning bids will be considered a gift to the Buggy Alumni Association. We have worked closely with the university to make sure that your gift to the BAA is also credited as a gift to Carnegie Mellon. Be assured that 100% of your gift will go to the Buggy Alumni Association. Also, if you’re an alum celebrating a reunion, your gift to the BAA will be counted towards your class totals.
  • For tax recognition purposes the donor can only claim their gift amount above the Fair Market Value of the Ride Auction. The fair market value of the Buggy Alumni Association Ride Auction is $10.00, except for Unique Experiences, for which the fair market value is $5.00. Only the amount of your donation above the fair market value of the EVENT is tax deductible. Please consult your tax advisor for more information.
  • If two people specify the same maximum bid for the Preliminary Auction, and the auction ends without any higher bids, the person that entered their maximum bid first will be the winner.  If more than one person submits the same maximum bid on the Proxy Bidding Sheet for the Finals Auction, and the live auction ends without any higher bids, the winner between the matching proxy bids will be selected at random.
  • The end time (11:00pm EDT Wednesday April 18th for the Preliminary Auction, the end of the live event for the Finals Auction) is fixed. There will be no extensions to allow for last minute bids. Get your bids in early and make use of the max bid feature!
  • Any heats that get rained out or otherwise cancelled will just void the auction for those heats. Of course, if winners of cancelled heats want to make their donations anyway, we won’t complain.
  • Winners should be present at the BAA tent at the top of hill 2 at the end of the preceding heat. Failure to show up in a timely manner will result in forfeiting the ride. We can’t be the cause of any delays, so the Buggy Alumni Association will have to be conservative in our estimation of “timely manner.” Be there!
  • The Buggy Alumni Association and Sweepstakes reserve the right to refund donations from and refuse a ride to anyone that is intoxicated or otherwise unable to safely ride in the back of a truck.
  • No rides may violate Pennsylvania’s laws concerning riding in a pickup truck. Basically this means the passenger must be over 18.
  • Sweepstakes also reserves the right to cancel rides and have us refund donations if they need to for any reason.