As Delta Tau Delta rider Paul Smith and Beta Theta Pi rider Will Kragie worked on each other on lap 200, Smith said he felt a push from Kragie and saw him ride into the gutter before making the pass and leading Beta to victory in Saturday's Little 500.
The gutter is defined in the IU Student Foundation Riders Manual as the cement separating the track from the infield.
"As we got close to Turn 3, Kragie came up on my inside and slammed into my hip which about caused me to crash," Smith said. "He was inside the gutter. He was inside the white line. That's textbook impeding ... (It caused me to do) everything but crash."
Kragie said that he was first pushed into the gutter by Smith.
"He kind of pushed me back into the gutter," Kragie said. "I pushed back."
The officials agreed with Kragie.
Page 39 of the IU Student Foundation's Rider's Manual says, "The cement gutter around the inside of the track is not to be ridden on. This is considered part of the infield. If a team is forced onto the gutter and into the infield it may enter back onto the track at the direction of the safety officials. Any team attempting to improve its position by riding through the infield will be given a penalty."
Smith and the rest of the Delta Tau Delta team went to the Wilcox House to dispute the call immediately after the race.
Little 500 race director Jordan Bailey took the team to a trailer, where he showed them the replay of what happened three or four times in slow motion, according to Smith.
Bailey had this to say about the final lap.
"Mike Howard, the Chief Steward in conjunction with the judges on the field, collectively made the official call as it happened, as it unfolded. He had lots of eyes on it. He saw what happened. They (Beta and Delts) then crossed the (finish) line. Mike Howard in conjunction as a collective group with the other judges took a look at the replay on the video monitor and determined that the Beta rider had established position on the inside and the right call was made in action."
Bailey added he showed the replay to Delts "as a courtesy."
Smith said that Delts tried to file a petition, but Bailey told them there is no policy for petitioning race results.
Page 40 of the Rider's Manual says, on the job of the Chief Steward, "His decision shall be final and no appeals shall be considered."
Because of this rule, Bailey told Delts no petition is possible.
Smith said he was "completely disappointed" at the lack of a call at the end.
"I'm kind of shocked that they're not going to enforce that rule," he said. "It looked like a pretty obvious call to me. I'm biased for sure. I had 10 other teams come up to me, and they all sympathized and thought it was impeding too. Pretty much everybody but the race director disagreed with the call"
