If you have watched the Little 500, most likely you have seen at least one crash on the track. At Bill Armstrong Stadium, riders compete on a cinder track. This track provides some unique challenges for riders when dealing with injuries.

Riders can experience concussions and broken bones, but when it comes to scrapes or other related injuries, cinders can get into the wound.

“That’s the main reason you need to go see the EMS on site, is to get – even if you feel like you are not that injured – to get your scrapes cleaned,” Little 500 Race Director Andrea Balzano said.

A unique challenge provides for some unique solutions. Riders resort to using toothbrushes to clean out cinders in addition to more traditional methods.

Cinders are a concern when dealing with crashes but riders also breathe them in throughout the race. Racing on the cinders can cause dust to rise from the surface which is then inhaled by riders. Competitors in the race call this “Track Hack.”

IU sophomore and race participant Natalie Skwarcan described how “Track Hack” feels as a rider.

“When you inhale, it gets in your lungs and makes you cough. Your snot is usually grey with the cinder dust and sometimes the mucus you cough up is too. And it almost feels like if you have asthma and you can feel when your lungs start to itch right before the attack. That’s what it feels like,” Skwarcan said.

“Track Hack” has been a problem in the past, but with construction underway at Bill Armstrong Stadium, riders are concerned whether this problem will get any better before the Little 500 race in the spring.

“From what I’ve seen on the track this season, it has been particularly dusty and the surface has been particularly bumpy and loose so with the dust it just means there will be more track hack, you’ll be breathing in more of that because more of it gets kicked up, Skwarcan said.

Skwarcan’s teammate, Abby Teed, described an alternative view on the problem.

“I think it just might be a new learning curve, like if the consistency is changed permanently, I mean you’re going to have to learn to ride on the track again,” Teed said.

While riders are preparing for anything, Indiana University Student Foundation is still confident that the Little 500 won’t be affected.

Indiana Men’s Soccer season is currently impacting the pace of repairs as they head to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana will continue to host more home games, delaying it further.

“Yeah right now we are still in the thick of tournament time with soccer, so we’re kind of at a standstill,” Balzano said.

Indiana University Student Foundation President, Alex Todd, elaborated on the actual repairs to the cinder track.

“We have a lot of treatment going on and we are helping heal the cinders so to speak. We have different chemical methods we are using, we are adding different materials and we are helping till the track so we expect it to be in really good shape for the spring,” Todd said.