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Monday, 4/23/2001
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Monday, 4/23/2001
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Allison Whittman/Exponent photographer FIRST PRIZE: Tom Gray, driver for the Theta Chi racing team, receives his trophy after placing first in the Grand Prix race on Saturday.
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By Barney Haney
Staff Writer
Tom Gray of Theta Chi added to his trophy case this weekend by winning the 44th annual Grand Prix race — his second win in three years.
Adam Kasick, who won the pole position during the time trials, was racing strong and leading by sometimes half a lap until lap 70 when he slid off the track into the fence and was overtaken by Gray.
From then on, it was Gray and Aaron Oakley, of the Farmhouse racing team, keeping it tight and battling aggressively for first place.
"There were a fair share of close calls; luckily we were able to stay out of trouble. I had to stay patient and cautiously aggressive," said Gray.
In lap 90, Oakley started to gain track on Gray, but Gray was able to battle back in lap 95 and the two led the rest of the field by two laps.
Then, on lap 131, Oakley's kart kissed the straw bales, allowing Gray to pull away and Nick Watt of Delta Chi to pass, which set Oakley in third place.
By lap 140, there were only 13 of the field of 33 karts left on the track, and soon Gray was a lap ahead of all of them.
With 10 laps left, Gray had a nice lead and smoothly took first place.
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Allison Whittman/Exponent photographer VICTORY: Tom Gray, driver for the Theta Chi racing team, leads his kart into first place at the Grand Prix race on Saturday. This was Gray's second victory of the past three Grand Prix races.
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Finishing behind Gray were Watt with second place, Oakley with third place, Nick Maple of Titanium Motorsports with fourth and Mike Deppe of Alpha Sigma Phi coming in fifth.
"This was our fourth year racing and we finally finished," said Oakley.
Oakley said he had to give thanks to his crew for a great job on his two pit stops with one requiring changing a popped tire.
Gray, who won the Grand Prix in 1999, is no stranger to racing. He's spent his summers racing stock cars in the NASCAR ReMex tour.
When asked about how this year's victory compared to the win in '99, Gray said, "This year was a lot tougher. The competition was better. I have a lot of respect for Oakley and (James) Weida.
Gray dedicated his victory to J. T.
No one was injured in the race although Ed Hillstrom of Snake Racing was shook up a little bit after flipping his kart while attempting to turn.
The day started at 11:30 with the first of three 25-lap sprints to decide the last six remaining drivers.
John Dreuth, of Cary Racing; Marcos Cunha, of Purdue Engineering Student Council; Braden Roadruck, of Cary Racing; Demetrius Gibson, of the National Society Black Engineers; Ben Black, of Acacia and Guillermo J. Hernandez, of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, placed first and second in each of the sprints to finish the field.
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