By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director
For the Third Straight Year and fifth time overall the Black Key Bulls are the Men’s Little 500 after dominating a year ago this one had a much different ending with a last lap crash taking out all the lead teams except for the Black Key Bulls to win the race under yellow under a Sunny 71 degree day at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the Indiana University Campus celebrating the 75th running of what is billed as the “World’s Greatest College Weekend”.
Going into the final lap Chi Alpha was leading and just completed an exchange with Cutters Rider and Bloomington Native Judah Thompson charging to take the lead when the Chi Alpha merged into traffic and collied with Thompson and all the teams that were behind them and were in contention for the finish were caught up in the wreck and ended under yellow with the Black Key Bulls the lucky ones to win with Cinzano second and Bears Cycling third as the rest of the field and their finishes are undetermined after the wreck.
It’s the fifth title for Black Key Bulls winning it all in 2014, 2017 and a three peat form 2024-26 and become the first team to three peat since the Cutters won five in a row from 2007-11, Delta Chi won from 1979-81 and Phi Kappa Psi from 1958-60 as the only four teams to win three or more consecutive Men’s Little 500 Bike Races in a finish that nobody will believe and for the capacity crowd at Bill Armstrong Stadium it was one that nobody will forget and a wild and controversial finish.
The race was tight all race long and several teams took the lead throughout the race that did have a major wreck in turn 3 on Lap 3 as several teams were involved but nobody was knocked out of the race. The Cutters led on Lap 10 and set the pace for the entire race which was 200 laps and 50 miles. Bears Cycling took the lead on lap 20 but many times on those laps the leaders came in for an exchange and would climb back into contention. Phi Delta Gamma led after 30 laps; Beta Sigma Phi led at lap 40 and 3 PH led at Lap 50.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon took the lead on lap 60 followed by Cinzano on Laps 70 and 80 and had to battle their way back into the field throughout the race. Phi Delta Gamma reclaimed the lead on Laps 90 and led at halfway mark with 20 teams on the lead lap. Beta Sigma Pi led on lap 110 followed by Bears Cycling on Lap 120.
On Lap 130 Cinzano and Sigma Nu pulled away from the field but they were closing in and within a few laps the field caught back up, and the Black Key Bulls led with 60 laps left. Sigma Nu led with 50 laps left and Sigma Phi Epsilon was in charge with 40 laps to go as it was anybody’s race. Bears Cycling retook the lead with 30 laps left but they had a bike issue was late in the race could have cost them, but they did not know what was about to happen at the end of race to get them to the podium.
On Lap 177 Cinzano and Delta Tau Delta were two of the teams involved in a wreck on Lap 177 that brought out the yellow flag. Once the race went green with 20 laps left Chi Alpha took the lead and Black Key Bulls was the leader with 10 laps left and teams were making their final exchanges to set up for the sprint to the finish. All the top teams had their best sprinters ready to go and Judah Thompson who had dominated all the individual events leading up to the race was making a charge and the unthinkable happened and the hometown kid who was Senior on the 15 time champions of this race and the most well-known team to fans around the world who have watched the 1979 Movie “Breaking Away” that featured the Cutters was making to the pass to sprint to finish and lead the Cutters to their 16th title and a fitting end to the 75th ending of this race.
Thompson and Cutters and all the leading teams were devastated by the dramatic last lap crash that took everyone out that was in contention and through all the carnage it was the Black Key Bulls who lift the trophy for the this year in a row and fifth overall but it will not be remembered for who won the race it will be remembered for who did not in the race and why they did not win the race. For all those who attended both Women’s and Men’s Little 500 races this year they were treated to two exciting and dramatic finishes that had opposite endings that fans will never forget and what makes the Little 500 the best college intermural event in the Nation and around the World.