One of the highlights of Spring Carnival at Carnegie Mellon is the annual Sweepstakes competition, in which various on-campus organizations compete for the best times racing their buggies. This year’s event was, by far, one of the strangest and most incredible competitions in recent history.

The first occurence that marked this year’s Buggy events as unique was the weather. Over the past few years, the races have been plagued by rain that caused one, if not both, race days to be canceled. This year, however, both Friday and Saturday were warm and sunny, the temperature peaking in the mid-seventies.

The second occurence was an unlikely series of mishaps that resulted in several top teams being disqualified.

Roger Braunstein, an alumnus of the 2003 class of the School of Computer Science, observing his fifth year of buggy, commented on the strange series of events surrounding this year’s Sweepstakes competition:

“'A,' the incredible un-inclement weather, and 'B,' we had a spin out, a crash, a wheel popped off, we had stuff falling off, we had people jumping to reach the handle bars at the last moment. I don’t remember people ever falling this much.”

The Pi Kappa Alpha (PiKA) teams ranked number one for both men’s and women’s, their B team in Men’s with a time of 02:11.7 and their A team in Women’s with 02:29.83. The women’s time set a new record. Spirit A received second place for Men’s with 02:13.4 and Beta Theta Pi (Beta) received second place for Women’s with 02:39.83. Third place was earned by Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) for their Men’s A team with 02:13.7, which came as a huge surprise to many. Sigma Nu (SigNu) earned third place with their Women’s A team at 02:45.55.

The first day resulted in three teams spinning out: PiKA Men's A team, Spirit Men's B team, and Student Dormitory Council (SDC) Men's A team. PiKA's A team was ranked number one in last year’s competition, and SDC's A team was ranked number three.

SDC's A team was the first to spin out in the free roll area of the course, known as “the chute.” It was a scary moment as the buggy suffered from a mechanical failure and skidded into a spin. If that wasn’t enough, the final heat between the Spirit B, PiKA A, and CIA B Men’s teams resulted in even more calamity. PiKA A spun out in the chute as well, and Spirit B, in an attempt to avoid hitting the PiKA buggy, spun out and crashed into the hay bales that lined the course. All the drivers emerged unharmed, but visibly shaken.

There was also a heart-stopping moment as the Pioneers A and Spirit B Women’s buggies touched during their free roll, locking wheels for a few moments. Both were granted re-rolls. During the races, there were several passes, a rare incident at buggy races.

On Friday, several teams were disqualified for failing the brake test. This test requires buggies to pass a drop brake test that confirms the presence and ability of the braking system, which must meet certain requirements. The buggy is given 30 feet in which to roll, and then it must brake within an additional 15-foot-long zone. Each buggy is required to take the drop brake test before every practice and after each heat during Sweepstakes. After Friday’s disqualifications, it was determined that the designated practice brake test distance had been 15 feet and 7 inches. Because of this, the disqualifications due to brake test failure for Friday were discarded.

Still, six teams were disqualified the first day, most for their Hill 5 pushers not maintaining a grip on the push bar as the buggy passed the finish line, others for not having their buggy at the starting line on time, and two buggies which suffered from a “loss of mass” during their rolls.

Six re-rolls were allotted for Saturday, including Spirit Men's B team, whose accident, it was determined, had been a result of PiKA A’s spin out. Unfortunately for Spirit, though their Men’s B team was back in the game, their top women’s teams both disqualified during the finals heats, the B team for spinning out during their re-roll and the A team for loss of mass.

Another critical loss was Fringe Men's A team, the team that placed second in last year’s competition. They achieved an amazing time of 02:09.00, which would have easily put them in first place, but their Hill 5 pusher was unable to catch up to the buggy after giving it a final push. The team was disqualified.

The total number of disqualifications overall was 11. Last year’s competition resulted in only three.

“I’ve been here four years, and I’ve seen buggy for four years — I was a driver my second year here — and never have I seen such madness,” said Linda Liao, a senior art major.

There was some discussion over the PiKA Men's B team's victory. The rules permit a substitution of alternate pushers, so PiKA substituted several of their B team pushers with pushers from their A team. The A team had been disqualified in the preliminaries and the B team qualified for the finals.

"Most organizations put their A team pushers as alternates for their B team, and vice versa, just in case of [disqualifications] or injury. If you don't, you're pretty stupid," explained Adam McCue, a member of the Kappa Delta Rho buggy team. "PiKA's win is the result of them being smart about that rule."

“I couldn’t be prouder of any of our teams. We performed wonderfully in all our races, and showed up big on Saturday, even after our big letdown on Friday,” said Bob Douglass, buggy chair of PiKA.

This year’s Sweepstakes tournament also included a historic event. Kappa Kappa Gamma, the first all-female buggy team, participated in the competition. Their Men’s A team ranked thirteenth and their Women’s A team ranked tenth, a remarkable job for the first-time team.

There were additional awards given for participation and enthusiasm. Phi Kappa Theta won the Buggy T-Shirt award, Fringe’s buggy “Blackjack” won People’s Choice award, CIA won the Spirit of Buggy award, and Kappa Kappa Gamma won Chairman’s Choice award.

Sweepstakes held it’s first “pushmobile” race in 1920. Since then, it’s become a highly competitive athletic and engineering project for all the participating organizations. It essentially involves each team building an enclosed, aerodynamic, one-person vehicle. The “driver,” usually a small girl, will steer the vehicle from within, and the “pushers” push the buggy around a 4,400-foot course divided into five zones, or “hills,” that extend around Tech Street, Schenley Drive, and Frew Street.

Teams construct their buggy for speed and maneuverability while adhering to stringent safety requirements. Other members of the team include “mechanics,” who design and construct the buggy, and “flaggers,” who signal to the drivers as they steer along the course and help control traffic. Each organization is allowed up to four buggy teams in the Men’s division and four in the Women's division. The teams are ranked by their speed and ability, with “A” being the top team.

Friday, the first day of the competition, is when the teams participate in preliminary races, or “heats,” between one to three teams to determine whjch teams will compete for the top ten positions on the following day. Saturday, then, is designated for re-rolls (for teams whose preliminary rolls are judged to have been interfered with or fouled), followed by exhibition runs, when alumni can participate in pushing or driving for their old teams. Following the exhibition runs are the final heats, in which the rankings of the top ten teams are determined.

This year also included a display of the Red Team’s Sandstorm, an autonomously controlled vehicle which piloted itself around the buggy course on Saturday after the competition was complete.

“It was really a lot of fun, there was a lot of competition. I think everyone had a really good time,” said Tommy Nourse, a mechanic for SigEp. “It was my first year on the buggy program. It is an utterly unique CMU experience that’s hard to explain to anyone off campus. It’s something that everyone should at least come out and see at least once.”

“I thought this was a great year in terms of weather and practice, and I was extremely surprised at the number of incidents that occurred this year,” said Janice Golenbock, Chairman of the Sweepstakes Committee. “I still think everyone did a great job and I congratulate all the teams on a successful, albeit interesting, Sweepstakes 2004.”

If you missed the big race, WRCT and CMUTV recorded a live broadcast that they will be re-airing on Channel 17 starting Monday, April 19. Be sure to tune in.

 talkback to the pulse