By Brian Dillon
Staff Writer

How many other campuses offer a go-kart race as a break from studying for finals? With the timing of Easter weekend this year, the annual Purdue Grand Prix will take place a week later than normal — on the Saturday before final's week.

Nicknamed "the Greatest Spectacle in Collegiate Racing," Grand Prix time is quickly approaching. Although the race is a week away, qualifying for the 43rd annual Purdue Grand Prix will start Saturday.

Forty-seven teams are trying to become one of the 33 that will race in the main event at 3 p.m. on April 29.

Saturday is pole day, the first day of qualifying for the race. By the end of day, the pole sitter for the race will be established.

Those that fail to qualify for the race Saturday have another chance during the trials on Monday and Tuesday. If a team still fails to qualify, it has a third and final chance the actual day of Grand Prix.

Three races are held before the main race, and the top two teams from each of those races get the six final spots.

The race is composed of 160 laps of the course, located north of Ross-Ade Stadium. That translates into 50 miles of racing in go-karts that have an average top speed of 50 mph.

More than 4,000 spectators are expected to show. With the date of the race falling a week later than normal, planners are hopeful that this will not hurt attendance. The only other choice was to have it Easter weekend, but the amount of students going home for the holiday would have really hurt race attendance.

"I hope the weather is nice and people take a break (from studying) to come out and watch," said Dale Winger, president of the Grand Prix Foundation and a junior in the School of Agriculture.

The race will see no major changes this year. Like last year, the race takes place on the same day as the Black and Gold Scrimmage. The football team's spring scrimmage starts at 11:30 a.m. at Ross-Ade Stadium. The two events are advertised together with goals of getting fans to attend both.

The competition during the race is intense: 47 karts competing for spots on a track wide enough for only three makes for an interesting race.

"Everyone has a chance (to win). Hard work is what pays off," said Winger.

A lot of work goes into planning Grand Prix. The Grand Prix Foundation is in charge of the planning. The work involved requires the foundation to start meeting a week after the previous year's race.

"You can say it pretty much is year-round planning," said Winger.

The foundation is proud of Grand Prix and the work that is put into it.

"It's something unique. You can't go to any other campus to see a go-kart race," said Brett Foster, a junior in the School of Agriculture and race chairman.

Winger agrees.

"Having a year—end event like Grand Prix is a great thing for a campus," he said.

Almost 60 members help with the event planning, and the staff is divided into nine boards. Additional personnel who help out on the day of the race include track workers. About 15 of these volunteers help with getting karts that have stalled or spun out away from the other racers. Ten members of the Purdue faculty act as safety officials the day of the race, making sure no one is endangered.

The teams must put in a lot of time and effort to have the chance to qualify. They must get organized during the fall semester because the first meeting for those interested is in October. An average team is composed of six members: a driver, crew chief, scorekeeper and three crewmembers. Local businesses, residence halls and fraternities sponsor a majority of the teams.