You didn’t think we were done, did you? Yes, the 100 Years of Buggy History series began as a celebration of Buggy100, and we covered 100 Years during the 2019-2020 school year. But then I realized – Just because the school year (abruptly) ended, Buggy didn’t. Buggy history continues to be made. And why force someone celebrating the 200th anniversary in 2120 to try and find some random notes on this old thing from 100 years ago called the “internet” to piece together what went on in those years. I continue to try and come up with new ideas for how to uncover information about 1937 (to no avail as of yet), but wouldn’t it ave been easier if my counterpart in 1937 just put together a full recap of the year way back then?
So the 100 Years of Buggy History series lives on…with a couple of tweaks. First of all, you’ll notice that the name of the series has changed slightly. We can’t really call it “100 Years of Buggy History” anymore, because we’re headed to years 101 and beyond. So we did what all good CMU students who stay longer than 4 years do…we’ve added a “+”. Second, we’re taking things a little slower. My goal is, and has always been, to tell whatever stories I can find about the year in Buggy, whether good or…not as good. But as I learned while doing Rolls Reports, it does feel a little awkward to talk about current goings-on as if the people doing those things aren’t actively doing them. So going forward, the 100+ Years of Buggy History series will be on a 4 year delay. That means that for the year being covered, most (though maybe not all) of the students that participated in that Raceday will have graduated. I’m hoping that this also makes those alumni more willing to share their own stories in the comments, because as a reminder, once you’ve got that degree from CMU, they can’t take it away from you! The goal for the series will be to release a new article each year around the start of the Fall Semester, just in time to remind everyone that Buggy is back!
So for the first article of the 100+ era of the 100+ Years of Buggy History series, we turn the clock back to 2021. The world has been shut down for the better part of 6 months, the COVID vaccine is still being formulated, and CMU and its students are still figuring out how they’ll handle a return to normalcy. Within that environment, a ragtag group of Buggy folks are doing everything they can to keep a sport, that requires so much hand-on participation and knowledge transfer, alive.
Over the past year, the BAA’s History Committee has been working on some exciting projects, and today we’re ready to announce the first of those – Raceday Rewatch 2001, coming on July 14, 2024 at 3pm ET on our YouTube channel!
Mother nature sent snow, flooding, freezing temperatures, and even an earthquake leading up to the weekend, but not even those could keep teams off the course for Truck Weekend. And what a weekend it was! Teams combined for 85 rolls on Saturday, and another 108(!) on Sunday. Even better, everyone qualified for Raceday! Because we’re busy getting ready for Raceday later this week, we don’t have a full Rolls Report for you here. But we did have volunteer timers on the course on both Saturday and Sunday, so if you want to see that data, as well as our Raceday predictions and other recap of the year and preview of the races, make sure that you’re a member so that you get our Raceday Preview.
But as this is the last Rolls Report of the year, I just wanted to give one last shout-out to everyone who helped out with these reports this year. You may be surprised to learn that I haven’t attended a single Rolls all year (it’s tough to attend when you live in California). So I mean this literally when I say that these Rolls Reports would not be possible without the help of all the alumni and students who provided information and photos this year. In particular, I want to thank alumni Rob Siemborski, Matt Gallabrese, Connor Hayes, Dan Becerra, Molly Browning, E. Forney, Meg Richards, Declan Kelly, Ben Matzke, Frank Li, and Sabrina Wang for their notes and photos throughout the year, and Rob, Matt, Connor, Molly, Guillermo Gomez, James Wong, Raymond Galeza, Ryan Davis, Natalie McGuier, and Shafeeq Sinnamohideen for their help timing buggies this weekend. I also want to give an extra special shout-out to the current students who took time on the weekends to send me updates, both from their teams as well as for Rolls generally – They not only ensured that everything was accurate (at least for their teams), but also provided a perspective that added way more depth to these Rolls Reports than we would have otherwise had. So thank you SO MUCH to Su Mae and Kaylie (PiKA), Lewis (SDC), Tiegan (Apex), Julia (CIA), and Delaynie (Robobuggy…and probably a bunch of other orgs too). My hope is that in future years, we get even more teams to fill us in with how they did each week, as we love to pass that information along to students and alumni who can’t make it to Rolls.
Our alumni volunteers were out in force this weekend to help with timing.
In the meantime, below is the chart for this weekend’s Rolls, as well as the links to both galleries. And now that Raceday is here, make sure you’re checking cmubuggy.org frequently, as you’ll be able to find all of our announcements, a schedule of events, links to the broadcasts, etc. here. If you’re a member, keep your eyes out for our Raceday Preview, coming out this week (with Truck Weekend details). We’ve also got our Lead Truck Auction starting soon. Plus, if you want to get yourself in the mood for Raceday, spend this week listening to Season 5 of Chute The Sh!t, as there are some great episodes (including wild tales from the 70s and 90s, a look at the origins of the cmuTV broadcast, and more modern takes with both the current SDC leadership and Sweepstakes Advisor Stacie Gardner). And lastly, if you are interested in being our Rolls Reporter next year, please reach out to us via Email, Discord, or even in person at Carnival!
Rolls Awards. Since it’s the last Rolls Report of the year, I figured I’d take this opportunity to give out a couple of “Rolls Report Awards”, honoring the best of the best this year.
Overall – Most Rolls: TIE – Elizabeth (SDC) and Amber (CIA) – 69 rolls
First Runner Up: Nanz (Spirit) – 65 rolls
Second Runner Up: Kaylan (CIA) – 58 rolls
Overall – Most Rolls in a Single Buggy: Amber (CIA) – 69 rolls in Roadrunner
First Runner Up: Nanz (Spirit) – 65 rolls in Zuke
Second Runner Up: Natalie (Spirit) – 57 rolls in Seraph
Overall – Most Rolls (Veteran Driver Division): Natalie (Spirit) – 57 rolls in Seraph
First Runner Up: Lucy (CIA) – 55 rolls, with 20 in Goldfinch, 18 in Kingfisher, and 17 in Emperor
Second Runner Up: Jazz (CIA) – 49 rolls in Equinox
Overall – Most Drivers in a Single Buggy: PiKA, with 4 drivers in Raptor
First Runner Up: CIA, with 3 drivers in Kingfisher
Overall – Total Number of Rookie Drivers with at least 1 completed Roll: 22
Overall – Total Number of Qualified Rookie/Veteran Drivers: 17 Rookie Drivers, 12 Veteran Drivers
Fall – Most Rolls: Amber (CIA) – 50 rolls in Roadrunner
First Runner Up: Kaylan (CIA) – 41 rolls, with 25 in Emperor and 16 in Equinox
Second Runner Up: Elizabeth (SDC) – 38 rolls, with 26 in Avarice and 12 in Vice
Fall – Most Rolls (Veteran Driver Division): Natalie (Spirit) – 36 rolls in Seraph
First Runner Up: Jazz (CIA) – 33 rolls in Equinox
Second Runner Up: Lucy (CIA) – 30 rolls, with 18 in Kingfisher and 12 in Emperor
Fall – Most Rolls in a Single Buggy: Amber (CIA) – 50 rolls in Roadrunner
First Runner Up: Natalie (Spirit) – 36 rolls in Seraph
Second Runner Up: Nanz (Spirit) – 35 rolls in Zuke
Fall – Most Rolls in a Single Day (Buggy/Driver): TIE – Most of CIA with 9
Lucy – 9 in Kingfisher on 9/16/23, 9 in Emperor on 11/11/23
Jazz – 9 in Equinox on 9/16/23
Amber – 9 in Roadrunner on 11/11/23
Kaylan – 9 in Equinox on 11/11/23
Fall – Most Rolls in a Single Day (Org): CIA – 29 rolls on 9/16/23
Fall – Most Drivers in a Single Day (Org): Fringe – 5 drivers (across 4 buggies) on 11/4/23
Fall – Most Days Attended (Org): TIE – 10 (CIA, Fringe, and Spirit)
Spring- Most Rolls: TIE – Audrey (CIA) and Elizabeth (SDC) – 31 rolls
First Runner Up: Nanz (Spirit) – 30 rolls
Second Runner Up: Ivania (Spirit) – 27 rolls
Spring – Most Rolls in a Single Buggy: Audrey (CIA) – 31 rolls in Kingfisher
Co-First Runner Up: Elizabeth (SDC) – 30 rolls in Vice
Co-First Runner Up: Nanz (Spirit) – 30 rolls in Zuke
Spring – Most Rolls (Veteran Driver Division): Audrey (CIA) – 31 rolls in Kingfisher
First Runner Up: Lucy (CIA) – 25 rolls, with 20 in Goldfinch and 5 in Emperor
Second Runner Up: Natalie (Spirit) – 21 rolls in Seraph
Spring – Most Rolls in a Single Day (Buggy/Driver): TIE – CIA Drivers (Audrey in Kingfisher, Kaylan in Emperor, Amber in Roadrunner) with 7 on 3/31/24
Co-First Runner Up: Spirit Drivers (Nanz in Zuke, Natalie in Seraph) with 6 on 2/11/24
Co-First Runner Up: Lucy (CIA) with 6 on 3/30/24
Co-First Runner Up: SDC Drivers (Ezrin, Elizabeth) with 6 on 3/31/24
Co-First Runner Up: Lizzie (SigEp) with 6 on 4/6/24 and 4/7/24
Spring – Most Rolls in a Single Day (Org): CIA – 21 rolls on 3/31/24
Spring – Most Drivers in a Single Day (Org): TIE – 5 (Spirit in 2/24/24, CIA on 3/24/24)
Spring – Most Days Attended(Org): TIE – 9 (Fringe, SDC, SigEp, Spirit)
For our last full Rolls Report of the year (if you want the full Truck Weekend report next week, make sure that you’re a member so that you get the Raceday Preview), we’re pleased to report that we finally got a full weekend of Rolls in! The threat of weather was looming all weekend, and rain on Saturday afternoon and evening did leave the roads a little damp on Sunday morning. But for the first time this Spring, orgs rolled on both Saturday and Sunday. And not only did they roll both days, but they were incredibly efficient. In fact, the 10 human-driven organizations that came out this weekend combined for 163 total rolls across the weekend. And while there were a couple of issues, for the most part teams put themselves in great position for full speed ahead on Raceday.
Rolls were so busy this weekend that even Flat Stanley was trying to get qualified.
PITTSBURGH, PA – After a contentious, four-hour long debate at a Chairman’s meeting today, Sweepstakes Chair Ale Bonacini announced that “Raceday 2024” has officially been renamed to “Buggy Day 2024”. Raceday, the traditional name used to describe Carnegie Mellon’s Sweepstakes race held during CMU’s Spring Carnival festivities, had been in use since by students, staff, and alumni for several generations, with its first reported use in writing going back to 1965. Planning was well underway with the “Raceday 2024” branding for the upcoming April 12-13 event. But after a tense meeting and a 7-6 tiebreaking vote, the Chairpeople decided to buck that trend and set out on a new course.
The motion to rename the races to “Buggy Day” was initiated by Fringe. “We believe that Buggy would be better off by branding the bout between bitter rivals with the best alphabetical beginning, best it be bestowed the byname Buggy Day”, said Fringe Chair Winona Wang. The motion was quickly seconded by SigNu, whose representative stated that “our alumni have been way too involved, telling us about how much better things were in the old days. We need some independence, and what better way to do that then to wipe the slate clean and rebrand the race?” SigNu’s rep wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal by their vengeful alumni.
The discussion then turned a little more heated, as PiKA and SDC voiced their objections to the proposal. SDC Chair Matthew Garcia made a point that seemed to resonate with several teams, stating that “we already ordered our shirts that say ‘Raceday 2024’ and there’s not enough time to get a new design printed and shipped!” “We’ve been racing since 1921, and we’ve been calling it Raceday since 1921” said PiKA Chair Christian Lanuza. “It’s Raceday. That’s what it is. ‘Buggy Day’ sounds like something that a person who was attending their first Chairmen’s meeting ever would say!”
Teams seemed to fall into one of two camps, with newer teams favoring the name change and more established teams favoring tradition. As AEPi Chair Elijah Cohen put it, “the only reason we stopped doing Buggy was due to confusion – our brothers thought ‘Raceday’ was referring to the Mobot races, so we’ve been dominating that for several years. With the name ‘Buggy Day’, we’ll be back to racing buggies!”
After several hours of debate, Sweepstakes officially took a vote, with Fringe, SigNu, AEPi, Apex, and DG supporting the name change and Spirit, CIA, SigEp, PiKA, and SDC opposing. Teams spent another hour lobbying the remaining teams, and each side believed that they had crafted a convincing argument. When the votes were tallied however, more chaos ensued. The Spirit-led group pushing to keep the name Raceday had convinced SAE to side with them, but the Fringe-backed group pushing for the name “Buggy Day” had convinced newcomer Frontier. This left the vote deadlocked at 6, at which point Sweepstakes no choice but to leave the decision up to Sweepstakes Advisor Stacie Gardner, who ultimately decided to approve the name change. With her decisive vote, Stacie stated that “for years, people have been mocked, ridiculed, and slandered for mis-stating the name of the day when buggies race around CMU’s campus. Today, we put an end to buggy bullying. From now on, the day that buggies race will be known by the name that everyone expects it to be called – ‘Buggy Day’.”
The name change is set to go into effect today, April 1, 2024. Sweepstakes has already announced, however, that they are looking into voting irregularities involving SAE and Frontier, so stay tuned. Regardless, we at the BAA are here to keep you up to date on both this year’s Buggy Day activities and historical Buggy Day Results.
With less than 3 weeks to go until Raceday, teams were full steam ahead this weekend trying to get everything up to speed. This meant that, for the first time all year, every single team was on the course on Sunday. Of course, 2 days would have been even better, but the Pittsburgh weather gods decided that’s not allowed this Spring, and brought rain on Saturday morning. Sunday was clear and nice…except that the temperature was in the mid-20s. But that didn’t scare off the 12 orgs and 24 drivers from getting in as many rolls as they could on Sunday. And for the most part, things went pretty smoothly.
Spring break has come and gone, and with students back on campus, this weekend brought Buggy back to CMU! After a few weeks off for weather and Spring Break, this weekend brought warmer weather on Saturday…and then a rain storm early Sunday morning that caused Rolls to be cancelled (only to be filled with sunshine throughout the rest of the day). But it wasn’t just the buggies that had been rolling before Spring Break that were out. We saw a few brand new buggies make their debuts, as well as a couple of older buggies making their return to the course for the first time this year.
This picture-filled Rolls Report is brought to you by…the fact that no one uploaded photos to our gallery. Please upload them if you have them!
With the last weekend before Spring Break, mother nature decided to play a cruel trick on teams. Sunday rolls were cancelled early in the week due to expected temperatures in the low 20s, but teams decided to brave the upper 20s on Saturday to get some practice in. Unfortunately, teams couldn’t get as many trips through the roll order as they probably hoped. Scratches, stops, and snow led to a short, cold day of rolls for 8 racing orgs (and 1 robot).
It was a “proper pushing attire is a winter coat” kind of morning.
Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow last week, which can only mean one thing – Buggy is back! While you were preparing to watch the Chiefs battle the 49ers, or Usher’s Halftime Show, or Super Bowl Commercials, or Taylor Swift, buggy organizations were waking up early and ringing in the Spring semester with some Rolls! The plan was for 2 days, but a last-minute rainstorm on Saturday morning caused Rolls to be cancelled. But things cleared up for Sunday, allowing for 7 organizations to come out and get well on their way to qualification for Raceday 2024.
No shadows and a bunch of flags means that Buggy is back!
This weekend was Homecoming at CMU. Alumni who were back on campus got to see the CMU football team take home the 37th annual Academic Bowl, taste the various chilis at the 20th Annual CMU Chili Cook-Off, and attend the official grand opening of the new Scaife Hall. But most importantly, they were able to fill up on donuts and coffee courtesy of the BAA at Rolls! It was a full weekend of Rolls, with 7 orgs out each day and a lot of time to roll, leading to over 120 individual rolls across the 9 total organizations. It wasn’t without hiccups though, as the near-freezing temperatures saw a couple of buggy parts littering the course and one – well, two – very close calls with a bicyclist.
The one buggy we could ALL probably fit (well, other than Limo)
