The first one started in 1958 and was the result of a late-night bull session to provide an experience for engineering students to practice what they were learning. It would be a race of go karts designed and built by these individuals to take place within the state that held the Indianapolis 500. Each fraternity, sorority, or residence hall could enter.
.A lineup of 33 drivers competes in the 160-lap, 50-mile race, which debuted near the present-day location of the France A. Córdova Recreational Sports Center. Today, Grand Prix takes place at the corner of McCormick Road and Cherry Lane.
The race today is big time and used to raise money for scholarships for students.
My freshman year I got involved in the race. My residence hall Cary West had a car which we drug out of the attic and proceeded to make race ready. Most of the cars were tubular metal framework and a four-stroke motor. Ours had a fiberglass framework and engine, but also had a multispeed belt drive transmission which we figured would give us an acceleration advantage out of the corners. After weeks of work, we were ready, and the day of the race arrived.
I won’t go into many of the details, but our belt drive transmission proved our undoing. We would only get so many laps in high gear and the belt would fly off. The net days edition of the indiananpois Stssr had a report on the race. They only covered two cars, the winner and the one that made unbelievable number of pit stops to replace a transmission belt.
Guess who?
