Agenda

[DISCLAIMER: This schedule is subject to change at any time.]

Friday, November 21, 2025

8:00 AM Gates Open: Registration, Inspection, and Practice Fields Open

8:30 AM Skills Fields Open

9:25 AM The Festivities Begin: “Back Home Again in Indiana”

9:30 AM Opening Ceremony

10:00 AM Drivers to Pit Lane (Drivers Meeting)

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM Green Flag (Qualifications Matches Begin)

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Pit Stop for Lunch

1:30 PM - 5:00 PM Green Flag Qualifications Matches (Qualification Matches Resume)

Speedway Challenge

5:00 PM Special Activities

7:30 PM Skills Fields Close

8:00 PM Red Flag (Facility Closes)

Saturday, November 22, 2025

7:40 AM Gates Open: Practice Fields Open

7:55 AM “Final Lap” ceremony recognizing graduating seniors

8:25 AM - 12:15 PM Green Flag (Qualifications Matches Resume, Skills Fields Open

12:15 PM - 1:15 PM Pit Stop for Lunch

1:15 PM - 4:00 PM Green Flag (Qualifications Matches Resume)

4:30 PM - 4:50 PM Alliance Selection

5:00 PM - 6:45 PM Elimination Matches*

6:45 PM The Checkered Flag (Finals Pre-Show and Finals Matches)*

7:45 PM - 8:45 PM Awards Ceremony at Dallara Winners Circle*

9:30 PM Red Flag (Facility Closes)

*Please note that skills fields will close at the end of qualification matches. Elimination match schedules are entirely dependent upon the flow of the event. Rules questions, timeouts, and other considerations may speed up or slow down the event. As is typically true at Indiana events, there will be a five-minute break between the quarterfinals and semi-finals matches and a ten-minute break between the semi-finals and finals pre-show (regardless of any timeouts).

Volunteer

Signature Events are only made possible by the great volunteers who staff the event. The Speedway Signature Event is no exception; we always aim to have the best staff of volunteers at our event. 

We are currently seeking volunteers in the following areas:

• Field Resetters

• Skills Referees

• Queuers

• Practice Field Monitors

• Setup/Teardown

Volunteers can sign up at this link. We utilize judges that have no affiliation with participating teams. If you would like to judge and have no affiliation. All correspondence can be sent to Julie Robbins ([email protected] or [email protected]). 

All head referees at the Speedway Signature Event hold previous experience from the World Championships and other Signature Events, State/Regional Championships, and local events. 

Emergency/Bad Weather Policy

In the event of any emergency or bad weather, we will post updates to events.vex.com and email coaches. 

If your arrival will be delayed due to an emergency, please call or text (317) 985-5111 with your team number.

Refund and Payment Policies

If the Event Partner cancels the event: A full refund will be given.

​If a Coach/Mentor completes registration for the event then chooses to withdraw or not attend: No refunds will be given.

Payment should be received within two weeks of registration. Teams registered within a month of the event should pay upon registration. Teams who do not meet the payment deadlines will be moved to the waitlist. 

Date: 21-Nov-2025 - 22-Nov-2025

Travel Info

The Speedway Signature Event is held in the Pavillion at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the home of the Indianapolis 500. 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 4790 W 16th St, Indianapolis, IN 46222

Webcast

The Speedway Signature Event is proud to live stream the entirety of the 2025 Speedway: Push Back.

Day 1 (11/21/25): https://www.youtube.com/live/GO8RsCK6vn0?si=XrAeiNS-F-xV2WUL

Day 2 (11/22/25): https://youtube.com/live/aLdcnsxmvMc

Judging Format

The Speedway takes judging very seriously. Our highly experienced Esteemed Corps of Judges from all over the United States puts in more than 650 hours to make our effort complete. We employ a hybrid judging format. Here is what that means:

Engineering Notebooks will be reviewed in advance of the event by the Judges.  We believe this will allow the Judges to spend more time with the notebooks and therefore better reward the awesome effort that teams put into their notebooks.  We ask that all teams submit their Engineering Notebooks on RobotEvents NO LATER THAN midnight EST on Saturday, November 8th, 2025.  

Team Interviews will be conducted in person in the pits on the days of the event.  All teams will be interviewed at least once, so be prepared to tell us why your robot is great! Interviews should be around 10 minutes in length, so be sure to practice being concise and impactful.  Some teams may receive second interviews if the Judges need additional information. 

If you have any questions about the judging process, please email the EP and we will try to answer them.

Signature Event Early Bird Policy

• All Signature Events will have a specific Early Bird Registration that is independent of all local/regional Early Bird systems.

  • Each team starts the season with three (3) opportunities to register during the Signature Event Early-Bird period.

    • A Signature Event Early-Bird opportunity is not taken away if a team registers for a tournament hosted by their school or organization (where the team’s coach is the Event Partner).

    • If a team registers during the Standard Registration period, a token is not taken away.

• The official Signature Event Early Bird policy can be found in the RECF Library.

• To find out how many Signature Event Early Bird tokens your team(s) have remaining, select the "My Teams" option in RobotEvents.