Down the hill and into the finish line. The history of the Soapbox Race.

Introduction

Usually, in normal races, many factors affect your chance of victory. How powerful your engine is, how good your car handles, how much grip and down force it has, how much its breaking power is, how fast the driver’s reaction is, and many many more factors. But in soapbox racing, oh that is an entire different story.

Compared to other races approved by the FIA, victory depends on the driver’s bravery. There are only a few safety regulations set, and how the driver would want to build their car is up to them. Victory also depends on how the driver or the team builds their car, because all cars share the same engine. Gravity. They can build cars as wacky as their imaginations, and still take the podium. And once in a while, professional racing teams would love to join the fun without limits, just like Aston Martin developing a soapbox car.

Despite its out-of-date, barbaric and very risky and dangerous intentions, it is still practiced today. Red Bull, one of the most prominent names in motor sport, hosts the biggest event in soapbox racing, where teams build gravity powered cars as wacky as possible, all in effort to have a spot on the podium. Some soapbox cars use bicycle wheels, cardboard bodies, very unusual bodies made out of the most unexpected materials for a race car. There are no limits on how big of a risk you would want to take in this race.

Founding

Back then in the 1930s, a stop-motion picture film called The Kid Auto Race premiered on local cinemas, starring the legend himself, Charlie Chaplin. Produced by Keystone Studios, it depicted Charlie Chaplin racing around in a baby stroller race around Venice, Los Angeles. The film was shot during the Junior Vanderbilt Cup, an actual race with Chaplin and Lehrman improvising gags in front of real-life spectators. But that was the birth of what we know as the Soapbox Race today.

In 1933, a photographer named Myron Scott from Ohio thought of re-enacting the film, only in reality. So he put together 19 boys. The crowds loved it so much, that Myron decided to host another race to please them with a bigger prize for the podium positions. The kids were very keen and interested into them, that a whopping 362 kids showed up during the second race with homemade cars built of orange crates, sheet tin, wagon and baby-buggy wheels. (Fun fact: Myron Scott also named the Corvette when it was still under development)

One year later, the American race was hosted on August 19, 1934. Robert Turner of Muncie, IN, won the national soapbox race, with his car from the wood of a saloon bar. In 1935, the race was moved from Dayton to Akron, because of its central location and more hilly terrain to push the kids’ cars to the limits. An accident in 1935 attracted even more attention, as a car veered off the track and hit a broadcaster.

Because of that accident, the leaders of Akron decided to build a dedicated track for soapbox racing for safety reasons to prevent another accident like that ever happening again. After some funding and effort from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Derby Downs was built, and is still used today for the annual national soapbox race.

Increase in Popularity

In 1946, the town of Mission, British Columbia acquired the rights to the Western Canada Soapbox Derby Championships and the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce, previously named the Mission City & District Board of Trade, organized the event annually until 1973. Big names in the automotive industry also began to show up in the soapbox race at that time when it was gaining popularity.

During the All American Soapbox Derby’s heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, when Chevrolet was a sponsor and famous TV and movie stars made guest appearances, as many as 70,000 people gathered in August to eat snow cones and cheer hundreds of youthful racer/builders (boys only in early years) ages 11–15 who were the champions of local races around the nation and from several foreign countries.

In 1947, actor James Stewart was appearing in the Broadway play Harvey; in order to attend the event, he cancelled a weekend’s worth of performances and refunds were issued to ticket holders. At its peak, the Derby was one of the top five sporting events in terms of attendance. John DeLorean ended the 35-year Chevrolet sponsorship in 1972, claiming that the Derby was outdated and too expensive to hold.

Some other famous people that showed up were actor Tom Hanks, Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Regan and even NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt showed up at the Akron Soapbox Derby.

Modern day Soapbox Racing

Starting in 1993, the All-American Soap Box derby began the Rally World Championship. The Rally derby is a Grand Prix style of race in which each district, ten in all, sends back a number of champions based on number of racers and races in each district. Today there are broader categories that extend the age range to younger racers and permit adults to assist in construction. This is especially helpful for younger children who cannot use power tools, as well as to provide an outlet for adults.

Today, professional soapbox racing cars uses standardized wheels with precision ball bearings, modern gravity-powered racers start at a ramp on top of a hill, attaining speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. Rally races and qualifying races in cities around the world use advanced timing systems that measure the time difference between the competing cars to the thousandth of a second to determine the winner of a heat. Each heat of a race lasts less than 30 seconds. Most races are double elimination races where a racer that loses a heat can work their way through the Challenger’s Bracket in an attempt to win the overall race. The annual World Championship race in Akron, however, is a single elimination race which uses overhead photography, triggered by a timing system, to determine the winner of each heat. Approximately 500 racers compete in two or three car heats to determine a World Champion in each divisions.

There are three racing divisions in most locals and at the All-American competition. The Stock division is designed to give the first-time builder a learning experience. Boys and girls, ages 7 through 13, compete in simplified cars built from kits purchased from the All-American. These kits assist the Derby novice by providing a step-by-step layout for construction of a basic lean forward style car. The Super Stock Car division, ages 10 through 17, gives the competitor an opportunity to expand their knowledge and build a more advanced model. Both of these beginner levels make use of kits and shells available from the All-American. These entry levels of racing are popular in race communities across the country, as youngsters are exposed to the Derby program for the first time.

Ultimate Speed Challenge

The most exciting part about the entire soapbox race season is the ultimate speed challenge, where children would build soapbox cars built for one thing only, speed. They would be shaped like bullets for maximum aerodynamic efficiency with the least drag, with a little compartment where the riders lie down in as the soapbox cars roll down across the hill on their own. Its basically a drag race down a hill on who can clock the shortest times. Heck, even the Mercedes-Petronas F1 team joined.

In 2004, during the inaugural run of the Ultimate Speed Challenge, the fastest time was achieved by a car designed and built by the Pearson family, driven by Alicia Kimball, and utilizing high performance pneumatic tires. The winning time achieved on the 301 m track was 27.190 seconds. Jerry Pearson returned to defend the title with driver Nicki Henry in the 2005 Ultimate Speed Challenge beating the 2004 record time and breaking the 27.00 second barrier with an elapsed time of 26.953 seconds. Second place went to the DC Derbaticians with a time of 27.085 while third went to Talon Racing of Florida with a time of 27.320.

John Wargo, from California, put together the 2006 Ultimate Speed Challenge winning team with driver Jenny Rodway. Jenny set a new track record of 26.934 seconds. Jenny’s record stood for 3 years as revisions to the track and ramps after the 2006 race caused winning times to rise in subsequent races. Team Pearson finished 2nd with a time of 26.999 seconds and team Thomas finished 3rd with a time of 27.065. Jack Barr returned in 2008 with driver Krista Osborne for a repeat team win with a 27.009 second run. Crew chief Tom Schurr and driver Cory Schurr place second with a time of 27.023 while crew chief Mike Albertoni and driver Danielle Hughes were 3rd after posting a time of 27.072.

Overtime, times became shorter and shorter due to aerodynamic and technological advancements. In 2011, Driver Kayla Albertoni and crew chief Mike Albertoni broke the record in heat 2 or the opening round with a 26.765, taking 0.079 seconds off the 2010 record. One heat later, driver Jim Overmyer and crew chief Mark Estes of team CSSN racing lowered the record a further 0.133 with a 26.632 run. Jim improved to 26.613 in round 2 to secure 2nd place. In heat 5, of the opening round, driver Kristi Murphy and crew chief Pat Murphy secured 3rd place with a run of 26.677.

And in 2014, CSSN’s Anne Taylor with crew chief Jerry Pearson won with a time of 26.613. Anne’s time improves on the prior best time for the new gate configuration but falls short of the 2011 record. This marks Anne’s 2nd consecutive win and the 5th consecutive win for CSSN racing in this event. CSSN’s Tucker McClaran with crew chief Mark Estes finished second with a time of 26.667. Catherine Carney with crew chief Lee Carney finished 3rd with a time of 26.750.

1973 Cheating Case

So far in the history of soapbox racing, only one account of cheating was ever recorded. In 1973, 14-year-old Jimmy Gronen of Boulder, Colorado was stripped of his title two days after winning the national race. Suspicions were running high even before the finals, and Gronen was actually booed by many spectators.

The cheating device? An electromagnet mounted in the nose of the soapbox car. It would be activated from a switch mounted inside his helmet, and it would attract the car to the steel paddles used in the race. That gave Gronen an unfair advantage, as it granted faster acceleration during the start of the race. Midway through the 1973 race, Derby officials also replaced Gronen’s wheels after chemicals were found to be applied to the wheels’ rubber. The chemicals caused the tire rubber to swell, which reduced the rolling resistance of the tire.

Gronen’s uncle and legal guardian at the time, wealthy engineer Robert Lange, was indicted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and paid a $2,000 settlement

The RedBull Soapbox Race

Well so far I think you read that soapbox racing was professional and had a lot of rules while racing down a straight slope without all the wackiness. But all the wackiness begins from here… in the annual RedBull Soapbox Race.

The RedBull soapbox race features the weirdest and wackiest cars built by amateur teams. There are no limits on how big the risk you will take during racing. There is no such thing as seriousness or safety in this race. It all depends on the driver. You can build your car as your weird and wonderful mind desires. From houses on wheels, to professional and high tech gravity powered go-karts. And this time it does not go down a straight line, it will go through a hill with twists and turns.

And the winner of the race isn’t decided by podium, it is also decided by how standing out your car is. It goes by their motto, fast is good, but outrageous is better. Heck, even a huge name in FIA Motorsports, Aston Martin joined the RedBull Soapbox Race this year in celebration of their victory in Le Mans in the GTLM Pro segment called the Aston Martin Vantage 24 Seconds of Le Ally Pally.

Overall, Aston Martin finished second place, after the Brooklands Special soapbox car.

Conclusion

So, what is soapbox racing? A racing sport that dates back nine decades ago founded by a photographer, who was inspired by a movie, which involves gravity-powered cars racing down a straight line to clock the fastest speed, or the weirdest and wackiest race in history involving oddballs on wheels down a twisty, winding downhill track.

Ahh motorsports, so fascinating.