April 13, 2016  

59th Purdue Grand Prix set for April 23

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The "Greatest Spectacle in College Racing" returns for the 59th year on April 23 to the Purdue University track located at the Northwest Athletic Complex at Cherry Lane and McCormick Road.

Donald Davidson, famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian, will serve as grand marshal for the Purdue Grand Prix. Davidson has been with IMS since 1998 and is believed to be the only full-time salaried historian for any racetrack in the world. He is best known for being a member of the Speedway's worldwide radio network since 1965. He also has hosted "The Talk of Gasoline Alley," now heard on WFNI ESPN 1070-AM the Fan, Indianapolis, since 1971.

Davidson was inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Richard M. Fairbanks Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2013.

Jimmy Simpson, winner of the 2015 Grand Prix, returns this year hoping for a fourth straight victory in the race. This will be the final Grand Prix for the senior from Indianapolis studying organizational leadership and supervision. He is seeking to become the first four-time winner.

Qualifications will take place Saturday (April 16). The qualification order is determined by a lottery drawing. The field is then split into groups that qualify in seven-minute sessions. The pole position is awarded to the fastest driver from those sessions, and the first 26 spots of the field are set.

The karts that did not qualify are split into three groups and compete in heat races with the fastest finishers filling the 33-kart field.

Race day is set for April 23 with April 24 serving as a makeup day if weather forces postponement. The race will be live-streamed on the Big Ten Network BTN2GO application for iOS and Android devices and on the BTN2GO website.

Gates open at 8:30 a.m., and the 160-lap main feature begins at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance and are available now in the Grand Prix office in Stewart Center, Room G2; on the Grand Prix website; by emailing sales@purduegrandprix.org; or at various locations across campus. Members of the junior and senior boards will be selling tickets 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (April 16) on Memorial Mall during Springfest.

Grand Prix Day is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 22 at Armstrong Kirk Plaza. There will be free giveaways and pizza.

Race day tickets are $10 at the gate. Children under the age of 12 are $5, and children under 3 years old are free.

A shuttle service is available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on race day with pick-up locations from Ross-Ade Stadium, Tower Acres, Stewart Center, Purdue Memorial Union and Wiley Dining Hall.

The event, sponsored by the Grand Prix Foundation, exists to raise funds for annual student scholarships and is organized by a volunteer staff of 10 senior board directors, two advisers and a junior board staff.

For more information, contact Mary Kate Haan at 765-532-1643 or at promotions@purduegrandprix.org

Writer: Megan Huckaby, 765-496-1325, mhuckaby@purdue.edu

Source: Mary Kate Haan, 765-532-1643, promotions@purduegrandprix.org 

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