Here’s a quick run-down of all the Buggy things happening this carnival. We can’t wait to see you at all these awesome events!
Our Twitter will be getting frequent updates through the weekend, so if you haven’t yet, be sure to give a follow so you know what’s going on when!
Tuesday
9am EST – Truck Auction Begins
A post with the link will go out Tuesday morning when the Truck Auction goes live. Don’t miss your chance to sit in the Lead Truck and watch the entire Race first-hand. We’ve been working with sweepstakes and we should have the best view yet this year!
Wednesday
8pm-9pm EST – WRCT 88.3 Pre-Raceday Broadcast
Join us on the airwaves as our local group of Buggy fanatics talks through this year’s events and our predictions for Raceday. We’ll be live on 88.3 FM and streaming at wrct.org
11:59pm EST – Truck Auction Ends
At midnight Wednesday, the Truck Auction will end. All winners will be contacted with their winning and further information that you will need on Raceday. Remember to check-in next to the Alumni tent on the day of your heat and fill out your Waivers! You will not be allowed in the Truck without one.
Thursday
12pm-2pm – Buggy Showcase
The new format of the Design Competition known as Buggy Showcase will be happening in Weigand Gym. Come by and check out all the new buggies and chat with teams and other alumni. Be sure to put your vote in for the People’s Choice Design Award too!
12:30pm – Buggy Timing and Data Collection
At the Showcase Stage, Shafeeq Sinnamohideen will give you the low-down on how data is collected during our weekend rolls and what all those numbers mean!
8pm – BAA Social Hour
Join us at Hough’s (533 Greenfield Ave), the only bar in Pittsburgh with a Buggy on the wall. We’ve reserved the lower area by the tap wall so you won’t need to worry about it being too crowded. Remember though, the Greenfield Bridge is currently just a cliff, so you might have to go the long way around.
Friday
8am EST – Sweepstakes Prelim Races
Join us on the course and cheer on your favorite team, or listen via WRCT 88.3 or stream it live via cmuTV. Send us pictures of your remote-watch parties wherever you are in the world!
12:30pm-1:30pm – BAA Luncheon
After the races, be sure to stop by our new luncheon location and relax with other alums while grabbing a bite to eat. We’re hoping for another awesome raceday, so we will be outside at the tennis court patio. Rain locaiton is Breed Hall in Margaret Morrison.
1:30pm-2:30 – BAA Panel
We have an awesome panel of people from across the buggy spectrum including several of our supporting groups lined up to answer your questions and share their experiences. Come by, ask them questions and listen to their stories.
Saturday
9am EST – Sweepstakes Finals and Exhibition Races
Join us on the course and cheer on your favorite team, or listen via WRCT 88.3 or stream it live via cmuTV. Send us pictures of your remote-watch parties wherever you are in the world! We’ll be having our SigNu v. PiKA grudge match and possibly some additional ones.
12:15-1pm – History of Buggy Presentation highlighting the Class of 1991
Join Tom Wood for a presentation on the history of Buggy with a focus on the class of 1991 for their 25th Reunion Celebration. Open to all alumni and will be taking place in Steinberg Auditorium.
4:30pm – Awards Ceremony
Cheer with your team as the awards are handed out at the Midway tent on the CFA lawn.
AEPi – Kamikaze was out and rolling this Saturday trying to get in those last few rolls to qualify the team’s second driver for Raceday. This was very much a rebuilding year for AEPi, and while they were unable to get a new buggy rolling this spring, they made good strides and have built up some foundational knowledge. Kamikaze is certainly not among the fastest buggies on the course, but we did see smooth and consistent chute turns.
Apex – Mostly rolling Phoenix this weekend, Apex is making a final push to get all 3 of their drivers qualified for Raceday. We saw a brief appearance of Ember for what appeared to be pass test purposes only. Phoenix wasn’t breaking any speed records, but was executing solid clean lines through the chute. Here’s to hoping they find some more speed during truck weekend.
CIA – CIA was clearly working on their Hill 3 pickups this week. Both Icarus and Equinox were regularly getting rollouts to the fire plug, but don’t seem to have reliable strategy for transitioning to pusher power. Impulse wasn’t getting quite as impressive rollouts, but the Hill 3 pushers had an easier time taking over. Tempest, the newest member of the CIA fleet, is starting to pick up some speed and was making to the emergency phone box midway up Hill 3. The team remains among the top 5 in Freeroll speeds, but is one of the few that retains that speed through the chute. With just one weekend left, CIA will likely be focusing on perfecting their Hill 2 send offs and Hill 3 pickups.
Fringe – Fringe continues to have one of the best overall performances for rolls. The team again was among the top 5 in terms of Freeroll speeds, scrubbed little speed through the chute, consistently has great lines, and the Hill 3 pushers are managing smooth pickups. Bissa was getting great rollouts up to the fire plug, Bolt was making it to the emergency phone, and Beacon was coming in third amongst the team for rollouts. The only thing that wasn’t particularly smooth for Fringe on Saturday was that during one roll the tape holding Bolt’s fairing came loose and it dragged on the pavement throughout the roll. It was promptly secured. At this stage in the game, Fringe is looking extremely competitive and just needs to keep doing what their doing, but faster.
PhiDelt -Perun had a relatively uneventful day of rolls, completing clean chute lines and working on picking up some more speed. She did lose a rear hatch on one roll, but that issue was quickly resolved. The PhiDelt pushers might be a little optimistic about Perun’s rollouts, as they kept trying to pick her up midway on Hill 3, and ended up running down hill to meet her. The team has come along very well this year and their hard work is taking tangible shape.
SDC – SDC also had a stellar day of rolls. As per usual, they were one of the top 5 fastest teams rolling and were scrubbing little speed through the chute. All 4 buggies were getting great rollouts ranging between the emergency phone and the fire plug on Hill 3. Most of the SDC drivers continue to take a tight line into the chute, but go quite wide once within the hay bales. This had previously been thought to be an old habit to avoid a now-paved pothole, but may have more to do with shedding enough speed to maintain control of the buggy during the turn. Regardless, SDC is a force to be reckoned with on the course and will be amongst the top contenders come Raceday.
SigEp – 
Spirit – Spirit has really bloomed this spring and had some of the fastest Freeroll times and best Hill 3 rollouts of the day. It seems that the drivers are still trying to nail down their final chute lines as there was a fair amount of within and between buggy variability. Whatever they are doing, it kept them spin-free this weekend. Inviscid was getting some truly great rollouts (at leats to the fire plug) only to be met with lack luster pickups. The Hill 3 pushers were diligent though and by the end of rolls the pickup/transition was going much smoother. Assuming their pushers are anywhere near the caliber of years past, Spirit is going to be a top contender this Raceday.
Spring was in the air this week and Pittsburgh finally let us have a nice full weekend of rolls. All 10 teams rolled at least one day and what’s more, we are happy to report that although there were a couple controlled stops, there were no spins or other accidents. This always great to see as Raceday rapidly approaches. We had a couple alumni taking times for max Freeroll speed and Chute times. We don’t as of yet have the data for you, but we will be posting the Freeroll speeds Thursday. To tide you over, we can report that the teams with the fastest individual Freerolls this weekend were (in descending order): SDC, Spirit, PiKA, CIA and Fringe. This is none too surprising given last year’s Raceday results.