Rolls Report: May 1 & 2 – Mini Raceday | CMU Buggy Alumni Association

This year’s Raceday looked very different from those in the past. The years 2020 and 2021 brought a lot of challenges for students and the buggy community as a whole. However, despite all odds, I’m excited to report that CMU once again got to see some buggies racing around the course.

This year’s timed trials ran similarly to the Mini Racedays that typically occur in the fall. Before getting to the times and observations, I thought it would be helpful to preface this report with some of the changes and rules that were established to ensure that these rolls were carried out as safely as possible.

RD21 Rules:

In addition to the usual disqualification rules, there were two other main changes. The first is that wheel heating was forbidden for all teams. This was to keep the heats as safe as possible (especially since teams did not have as much time to practice as they had in past years due to Covid-19 restrictions on practices). Second, there was the 15′ mask rule that stated that an entire team can be DQ’d if one of their members is within 15 feet of any other person without a mask on.

The same restrictions on number of team members allowed to be on the course were also in effect meaning teams were limited on the number of mechanics and pushers they could have on the course at any given time. This also meant that there were no nonstudents or alumni allowed to observe the heats.

Lastly, each team was allowed two timed rolls for both their Men’s and Women’s teams. The best of the two times would be taken as the official time. All heats were single buggy heats.

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Useful Links:

If you missed the livestream, you can still watch the recording of this year’s Rolls/Mini Raceday hybrid and the Carnival – Buggy is Loading event with the links below. In addition, buggy has been featured in a couple of CMU news articles so check those out too!

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Mini-Raceday 2021 Recording

Carnival 2021 – Buggy is Loading

Students Give Buggy New Push

This is how we roll – College of Engineering

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Saturday Morning Rolls Practice:

Saturday was split into practice time for Apex, CIA, and PiKA and timed trials for Spirit. Rolls were delayed about half an hour due to the presence of some stubborn bollards, but things were soon back on track.

Apex and CIA rolled Firefly, Molotov, Emperor, and Kingfisher for 4 rolls each. I’m pretty sure I saw Firefly’s back hatch opened for a roll, so I hope its driver’s feet weren’t too cold.

PiKA kept up their longstanding tradition of trying to get as many rolls in at the very last minute as possible. In an effort to quickly get Banshee qualified, the team rolled before, in between, and after Spirit’s timed trials later in the day. By the end of the day they were able to squeeze in an 8th roll putting them well over the threshold for qualification.

Below, is a picture of this crazy year’s heroes: Sweepstakes + Kaycee sporting some new jackets. Glad to see that not even a pandemic can keep Sweepstakes from ordering new jackets every year. It’s also important to note how safe former Safety Chairman and current Sweepstakes Chairman, Tishya was being. She set an excellent example of social distancing and protection with her raspberry inspired outfit.

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Team Rosters

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Women’s Mini-Raceday Times (Official)

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Men’s Mini-Raceday Times (Official)

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King of the Hill: Clayton Edwards (SDC) – 00:16.82

Queen of the Hill: Hailey McDonald (SDC) – 00:21.34

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Saturday Timed Trials:

Spirit debuted Seraph’s newest paint job on Saturday and was the only team to have their four timed rolls on Saturday (2 for both the Men’s and Women’s teams).

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Sunday Timed Trials:

Apex Women’s knocked off almost 20 seconds in the second roll! Good thing, since their first one was DQ’d for the 5 Second Rule. CIA and SigEp’s Women’s teams also shaved off a second or two for a faster time the second time around. SDC, Fringe, and Spirit placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively in the Women’s portion of the races. PiKA’s Women’s teams also ran into some trouble with face mask and pushbar violations disqualifying their second fastest times.

SDC, CIA, and PiKA Men’s were all slightly faster in their second roll, but it was not enough to change the leaderboard. SDC, CIA, and PiKA would take home 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places respectively.

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