Purdue News
Purdue News
Troyer, a junior in the School of Agriculture from Kokomo , finished a lap ahead of rest of the field in the 50-mile race that took three hours and was stopped three times by accidents.
"The only thing you wanted to do today was stay in it (the race)," said a glassy-eyed Troyer after hoisting the first-place trophy over his head. Race results will not be official until Monday evening.
Accidents and mechanical failures knocked several pre-race favorites out before the half-way point of the 160-lap race. Last year's winner, Dustin Smith, and the runner-up, Kyle Smith, both of Frankfort , were the top two qualifiers, but were out of contention by lap 75.
Accidents caused racing to be stopped three separate times during the afternoon. In every case, roll cages protected the drivers and all were able to walk away from the accidents.
On lap 102, a kart driven by Jeff Karau, a sophomore in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Grand Blanc, Mich. , overturned between turns two and three and then was hit by a cart driven by Dean Will, a junior in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences from Haubstadt . About 10 laps after the restart, Shawn Hanlon, a senior in School of Technology from Logansport , rolled his kart between turns two and three. The third red flag of the day came out when Kevin Stajkowski, a senior in the School of Technology from South Bend , rolled his kart at least five times down the hill between turn two and turn three on lap 152.
The first restart bunched the leaders back together with Troyer in third place behind Paul Schunke, a senior in the School of Technology from Indianapolis , and John Lamper, a junior in the School of Technology from Lafayette . Two laps after the first restart, Lamper fell back with a broken drive chain. On the second restart, Schunke led Troyer until an accident caused Schunke to fall a lap down before the final red flag.
Schunke eventually finished third. Joe Brannan, a senior in the School of Technology from Frankfort , finished second. Leon Jones, a senior in the School of Agricultural Engineering from Louisville, Ky. , finished fourth and Steve Gauck, a sophomore in the School of Agriculture from Greensburg , finished fifth. None of the top five qualifiers placed in the race. Gauck qualified for the main race today by placing among the top two in a morning sprint race.
The Purdue Grand Prix Foundation is a student-run, nonprofit organization that conducts the kart race and related events to raise money for student scholarships. This year the foundation awarded 27 scholarships totaling $14,000. The foundation receives support from Ford Motor Co. and Procter & Gamble Co.
Writer: J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; e-mail, mike_willis@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
