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Ohio State Looks to Continue Success Record at IRP

13 May 1998

Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio State University electric race car team will compete against ten other universities at the Indy Electric Classic on Saturday May 16. The Ohio State Smokin' Buckeye has had a remarkable success record at the .686 mile Indianapolis Raceway Park oval with two wins and one second place finish in three events contested along with the track record for electric cars.

The 12 lap, 8.23 mile, Indy Electric Classic will be a part of the popular weekly "Saturday Night Thunder" program on ESPN2. Live coverage of the Classic is expected to begin at approximately 10:00 PM Eastern time, or immediately following Silver Crown Championship qualifying.

In order to prepare for the upcoming event, the team successfully tested at the one-third mile Columbus Motor Speedway oval. During the test session, the team tried an improved set-up for the Indianapolis Raceway Park oval. "We were pleased with the results of the test sessions and I hope that some of that speed will translate to IRP," said team leader Steve Stella. "Indianapolis Raceway Park is a special track for us because we won our first race there in 1994 and we won again last year. We have done some new things with the car since the last race and I think that we will have a very competitive car again."

The Smokin' Buckeye is currently the most successful car in the series with a record number of race wins and pole positions and winner of the last two series championships. The team recently placed second at the APS Electrics in Phoenix, Arizona due to mechanical problems in the closing laps after dominating much of the event. The Indy Electric Classic will mark the third race of the 1997-1998 ABB University Spec Series Championship points season. The championship season began last August at IRP with Ohio State cruising to victory after dominating the event from the pole.