Beta team to beat in Little 500 quals

Beta Theta Pi senior rider Tom Laser isn’t worried about Saturday’s Little 500 Qualifications.

He and his teammates weren’t worried last year either when they were faster than every team in the field at quals.

Last year the four-man team consisting of Eric Anderson, Will Kragie, Matt Green and Laser took the pole position for the race after recording a four-lap time of 2:21.05 at qualifications.

This year, that group of four seniors returns, boasting a combined 14 years of track experience — and two years of working together as a team.

“Just having guys who have been out here multiple years, that’s a lot of years of experience out here,” Laser said. “I think that definitely plays to our advantage.”

Laser said one of the biggest advantages for the team Saturday is that everyone is comfortable with exchanges, a result of the team’s chemistry.

“Exchanges can make or break your qualifications run,” Little 500 Race Director Jordan Bailey said.

In qualifications, each team takes the track individually and has each of its four riders race one lap, then exchange to the next rider. The fastest 33 teams qualify for the race, modeled after the Indianapolis 500.

“The exchange comes, and that’s the only point you’re slowing down the bike, and you have to, or else the other guy is going to have a hard time getting on,” Bailey said. “It’s important that the exchanges are fast, but clean as well. Ideally you want to avoid slowing down the bike as much as possible during the exchange in order to pull off a fast run.

If a team drops the bike, steps in the gutter, rides in the gutter or crashes, that is a fault, and it will have to attempt to qualify again. Each team receives three attempts.

With unseasonably cold conditions, the track has been closed more than usual due to snow and ice on the cinders, making it unsafe for practice.

This has created some problems for younger, less experienced teams trying to work on exchanges, as that can only be fine-tuned at the track.

Spencer Brauchla, a senior riding for Black Key Bulls, is working on meshing two new riders into the team’s lineup.

Last year, BKB qualified in third position.

Brauchla said not being able to practice exchanges as much as he’d like has affected the team, but no more than anyone else.

“Across the board, unless it’s like a super perfect day, times are going to be slower for everyone,” he said.

Bailey said that of the 74 total teams attempting to qualify in both the men’s and women’s races, around 60 stayed over spring break to work on exchanges.

Brauchla said his team likes being near the front of the race from the start to try to avoid early crashes in the first 10-15 laps.

“Starting up in the front for quals, you get one of the top positions and you have to worry a lot less about the other sketchy riders in the big pack,” he said. “It’s a big help.”

Laser said Beta doesn’t care where it starts, just as long as it qualifies.

“Our theme for this year has been quals is merely qualifications,” he said. “Whether we’re first in quals or 33rd, all it means is we’re going to step on the line April 20 on race day with 32 other teams. That’s what really matters.”

Bailey said he thought Beta “had (qualifications) figured out last year” and “wouldn’t be surprised if they improved on their time by a wide margin.”

While Laser said the team feels some pressure to repeat and understands other teams are watching the time the Betas put up, he still isn’t concerned.

“We’re going to come out here, have some fun, work with the crowd a little bit, make sure our fans and alums are happy and try to put ourselves in the best position to win on April 20,” he said.