On Friday, Oct. 24, crowds packed the edges of Peter’s Parking Deck as riders, pit crews and spectators came together for one of Tech’s most spirited homecoming traditions: the Mini 500. What began in 1969 as a simple tricycle race has evolved into an event that blends endurance, creativity and classic Tech ingenuity.
This year’s race was the largest in terms of teams and number of participants, according to Ajay Dakoriya, third-year ECE and Ramblin’ Reck Club’s Mini 500 Sub-Chair. Sixty-eight teams worked to complete eight laps around Peter’s, changing riders and rotating tires multiple times throughout the race. The challenge is as much about keeping the trike intact as it is about speed, and teams often get creative with strategies and trike modifications to hopefully gain a competitive edge.
For some racers, strategy starts with their physical attributes. Faith Bargellini, second-year BME, said that her strategy had to do with her height.
“I’m 5 foot, so I thought, maybe using my short legs, I could put that to use. I’m lower to the ground, and I felt like maybe that’s an advantage,” Bargellini said.
Richard Vlady, second-year CS and racer for Georgia Tech Swim Club, said that he felt his Swim Club training prepared him for the bike.
“When you’re pumping up the hill, you’ve got to tap into your lungs a little bit — big endurance sport here. That’s why the swim training makes us such a good team,” Vlady said.
Other teams chose to focus their effort on modifying the trike itself. Saniya Kulkarni, fourth-year AE, said that the Aero Makerspace team wanted to balance functionality with a creative design. Their ultimate design was a fighter jet, complete with wings and burners.
“We were really careful with making sure we were fitting into the rules, but still trying to be as creative as possible. I think it’s just so amazing seeing everyone put in their heart and soul into making this trike possible. We had a lot of really fun days just figuring out all the elements for it,” Kulkarni said, emphasizing that the Mini 500 was not just about winning, but served as a way for her team to bond while participating in the time-honored tradition.
For the winning team, it was that spirit of tradition that led them to victory: William Neidecker-Gonzales, ME ‘18, returned as an alum to help build the trike, inspired years earlier by a friend who had dominated the Mini 500.
That friend, Kuttler Smith, worked on the trike “Build a Trike and Make UGA Pay for It” team, a repeat Overall Mini 500 winner in 2018, 2019 and 2021, and second-place finisher in 2022.
“I saw he was doing well in the race, so he inspired me to join and get involved in the competition,” Neidecker-Gonzales said.
Neidecker-Gonzales and his Phi Kappa Theta brothers have been refining their trike design for years. Last year, a similar design was used, but its chain broke, so this year’s strategy focused on strengthening the previous model.
“A lot of thought goes into it, but there is a lot of wiggle room, if you can kind of think of a way around the rules,” Neidecker-Gonzales said.
Another brother of Phi Kappa Theta, Aishik Dhori, fourth-year ME, emphasized that part of the Mini 500’s challenge lies in adapting to the ever-changing rules.
“I think to keep it competitive, [Reck Club] will respond to our design. It’s not fun for one team to win by two, three minutes. You want to have a closer competition. Either you give resources to help bring everyone up to that, or you start ruling out things to make the competition closer and force everyone to innovate … If they want to institute new rules, we’re here for it,” Dhori said.
But students weren’t the only ones racing around the track this year. Among the competitors this year was a team from the Office of the President. On the team was Bert Reeves, MGT ‘00 and Vice President for Institute Relations, whose last Mini 500 was nearly 30 years ago.
“I did the Mini 500 in either 1995 or 1996,” Reeves said. “I really have no distinct memories of that one. I’m going to remember today forever, so I think that’s an indication of just how hard this one was.”
Even for those not racing, the Mini 500 remains a beloved reminder of what makes Homecoming special. Andrew Smith, MGT ‘08, returned to campus with his family to relive the excitement. As a former football player, Smith never got the chance to take part in the Mini 500 as a student, but this year, he got to experience the excitement firsthand.
“There’s nothing like the Georgia Tech traditions,” Smith said. “The creativity, the excitement, like the enthusiasm — that is our student body. We’re all here, having fun together, competing. There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like Georgia Tech.”