Thursday, December 2, 2010

A little history....






It's known as the World's Greatest College Weekend, but where did Little 500 come from?


The race was founded in 1951 by Bill Armstrong, the director of the Student Foundation. It is modeled after the Indianapolis 500, which Armstrong's father raced in and won in 1919. Teams of 4 race around a quarter mile track, men 200 laps and women 100 laps. 33 teams can qualify for the race. 


In 1988, the Women's Little 500 began, when a year earlier, Kappa Alpha Theta sorority attempted to qualify for the Men's race. Previously, there had been a tricycle race, but Theta believed that they could compete just as well with the men. They qualified 34th, just one spot away from competing in the race. This convinced the Student Foundation that it was time for women to be part of the IU tradition, and now we are in the 24th running of the Women's Little 500 race.


All the money raised from the race goes towards scholarships to award to working students. To date, IUSF has given over $1 million away in scholarships.


This year's race is April 15 and 16. Be sure to get your ticket, and bill it to the bursar while you can! Visit http://iusf.indiana.edu/little500/tickets.html for information on how to get your ticket!

1 comment:

  1. Wikipedia disagrees with this post about who founded the Little 500. They say Howdy Wilcox. Which one is right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_500

    ReplyDelete