We resume our coverage of the last 5 record breaking years with 1988. The CD of all the buggy book scans got a big boost this week courtesy of Tom Wood who provided scans of the entire 70s decade. You’re going to want one of these when they’re available on raceday

1988 was not just a record setting year.  It was the year that left a record that hung tauntingly over buggy for 20 years.  Day 1 set the standard high with DU breaking the record with a time of 2:08.5 with their two wheeled buggy King Eider.  DU’s high risk / high reward strategy backfired on day 2 when King Eider “toppled” the crest of hill 2, never to roll again.

Spirit was the defending champion having completed their ambitious 3 year plan to “race, place, and win” in 1987, but some asserted that the victory was due only to a rained-out day 2. They denied they had anything to prove on their buggy book page, but the pressure to validate their surprising ’87 win must have worked wonders on the push team. Spirit seized the opportunity and took nearly 2.5 seconds off of the 1986 record, setting the time that seared into many a mind over the 20 years that followed: 2:06.2.  Many people assume that such a lasting record was set on a warm, dry day, the type that is favorable to both pushers and buggies.  In fact, the records show that the temperature at 11am on April 16th, 1988 was 32 degrees F and the weather was listed as light snow.

Buggy Book 1988

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The design competition chair, Melissa Lee sent an e-mail to the chairman’s list today listing the buggies that had been entered into design comp.  The extremely short list is:

• Fringe- New Buggy, Bristol
• KDR-Polaris
• SigEp-Barracuda
• CIA- Firebird
• SAE- Rubicon, Limo

As a fan of the idea of design comp, this bothers me.  Continue reading →

We resume our coverage of the last 5 record breaking years with 1986.  The CD of all the buggy book scans is coming along nicely, and will be available on raceday.

1986 was a record setting year, but history was made on a number of fronts.  On day 1, ATO had a fire in their truck that came frighteningly close to a serious catastrophe that could have threatened the future of buggy.  The incident prompted school administration including Anne Witchner to convene a committee of alumni to create a new body of rules to protect the participants.  This work most likely saved buggy and provides the base of rules that still govern the sport.

After a dropping pushbar failure on hill 1 of their finals heat in 1985 took them out of contention, PiKA came back strong in ’86 to set the record at 2:08.67.

The PiKA win was historic and their 4th of the decade, but a newcomer would factor heavily into it also being their last until the 90’s.  Spirit entered the race for the first time and finished 4th in men’s and winning women’s- immediately catching the attention of those in the know and foreshadowing the beginning of a new power structure in buggy.

Buggy Book 1986

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The buggy alumni association’s coverage of the last 5 men’s course-record-breaking years continues this week with 1983.  Remember, these buggy books are just a sample of the exhaustive collection we are compiling for distribution on a CD available on raceday.

The year was 1983, and CIA’s 1981 course record of 2:10.50 was still the time to beat.  PiKA rose to that challenge and set the bar at 2:09 flat on a re-roll after an earlier collision with Beta.  Legend has it that PiKA’s hill 3 pusher was in the bathroom in Porter hall until the last minute when he ran out and helped brake the record by 1.5 seconds.  The new record marked the arrival at what would become a 25 year plateau in the 2:09 neighborhood.  In fact, the average winning time from 1983-2007 was 2:09.1.

Buggy Book 1983

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