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Thursday, Nov. 28
The Indiana Daily Student

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From traditional favorites to ugly injuries, Little 500 is HERE

For the last several weeks, teams have trained for the 56th running of the Little 500 with few on-lookers and small crowds. While the teams have some experience riding in front of others this year, nothing can compare to riding in front of the thousands of fans who will pack the stands at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\n"That's one of the best feelings ever," senior Alpha Tau Omega rider Hans Arnesen said. "To have that many people there that go to school with you cheering loud is an awesome feeling. All the hard work and sacrifice that you make throughout the year is worth it right there. For those two hours, the fans are cheering a loud as they can -- there is no better feeling than your fans cheering for you."\nThe loudest cheers of the day are expected to be for the Cutters, who are favored by their fellow riders to cross the finish line first. A victory Saturday would give the Cutters their eighth title since the team's formation in 1984.\nAlthough they are favored to win and believe they have a good chance to take the checkered flag, junior Cutters rider David Caughlin said there are several teams capable of winning.\n"Obviously we train to win, but there are quite a few teams out there training to win and that can win," Caughlin said. "We have been doing all we can to prepare and we are going to keep doing what we can before the race to give ourselves a chance to win."\nThe Cutters showed their strength over the last month by taking the pole and winning the spring series and will wear the white jersey representative of the spring series champion on race day.\nDefending champion Dodds House, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Gamma Delta and Alpha Tau Omega are among the favorites to deny the Cutters their eighth championship. Though teams can be favored going into race day, once the green flag is dropped, riders realize that anything can happen.\n"There could be a crash on the first lap where the entire field goes down and five teams could separate from the pack like last year," freshman Cinzano rider Curtis Grace said. "Anything can happen and we just need to ride smart and take advantage of different situations."\nBecause the race is so unpredictable, Arnesen said having just one pre-race strategy will not be helpful for teams.\n"Personally, I don't think pre-race strategy is going to work out because the race is so spontaneous and unpredictable," he said. "You can plan ahead if you have several strategies heading into the race, but teams need to be flexible race day. You have to think on your feet -- that's what makes the race exciting."\nWith so many quality teams and riders in the field, the pace should be fast if the conditions are good.\n"I think this race is going to be aggressive," Arnesen said. "There are a number of teams out there that have solid riders that are going make the race fast. They aren't going to sit in the pack and have the slower (teams) stay around. From the start, this race is going to be played out to be one of the fastest races in recent years."\nEven with the good teams breaking away from the field, Caughlin said the outcome will be uncertain until the checkered flag drops.\n"Anything is possible in this race," he said. "Things change so fast with everything going on so something like that wouldn't surprise me, but anything can happen"

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