Midnight Mayhem with the U of R Baja Team
What is Midnight Mayhem? Before I tell you, let me give you a little background.
I am a part of the U of R's Baja SAE team, which is a club that gets together every weekend to design and build a car that we race in a national competition at the end of the year.
This year, we decided to also participate in smaller (small being a relative term; over 50 cars were registered) competition called Midnight Mayhem. Hosted by the University of Louisville, it took place at the Podium 1 Motoplex in nearby Charlestown, Indiana. The race itself gets its namesake from the fact that the endurance race takes place from 8 p.m. to midnight. Where does the "Mayhem" part come from? Read on to find out.
Right from the start of our journey to the race, things got crazy. Everybody on the team had gotten a bunch of emails telling us to be ready to leave promptly at 2 p.m. that Friday. That way, we would get to the motoplex early enough to get some rest. Of course, what sounds good in theory doesn't always work out in practice. Two o' clock became four, and by the time we arrived at the site, it was around five in the morning. Ouch. Most people (me included) decided it wasn't worth it to sleep at that point.
The competition day itself was filled with runs to get missing things from Walmart, rushing to finish the two cars so they could pass inspection, and lots of fast food. We had a very extensive list of requirements to meet for the car (for example, the transmission guard can have no places where a finger could theoretically get stuck), so we had to strike a balance between rushing to finish and remaining detail-oriented. Thankfully, both cars were able to pass with minutes to spare before inspection time ended.
As for the race itself: although we didn't place particularly well (the yellow car was disqualified, and the blue car broke down when I went off of a jump with it), it was an awesome experience. Many of the freshmen and new members got a chance to drive the cars, as well as learn what competitions are like. I had a great time and I'm certainly looking forward to the rest of the year, which will include designing and building this year's car and finding sponsors, among other things.
-Ty