It’s all downhill for Soap Box race
As bustling shoppers raced in and out of the La Canada Flintridge Sport Chalet last weekend, a handful of parents and kids gathered in the store’s parking lot in a demonstration of true sportsmanship and community. Strangers, soon to be competitors, worked side by side calmly and in earnest, united in their passion for one thing: soap box derby racing.
With the Greater Los Angeles Soap Box Derby race looming next week, members of the California Family Soap Box Derby Assn. got to work along with sponsors, parents, teachers and students for a car-building clinic. Cars that were in pieces on sawhorses at 9 a.m. were finished by 2 p.m. and ready for a test drive.
The Greater Los Angeles race -- on May 24 -- is the largest qualifying event in the All-American Soap Box Derby. It’s organized by the Kiwanis Club of La Canada and the California Family Soap Box Derby Assn. and will include 65 participants from L.A., Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern and San Luis Obispo counties. The race will take place at the end of Foothill Boulevard, and the top three finishers will go to Akron, Ohio, to take part in the national finals, to be conducted July 26.
After nearly 70 years, the Soap Box Derby remains a quintessentially American event. And over the last 10 years, participation has tripled. It began in 1933 when Dayton (Ohio) Daily News reporter Myron Scott spotted three boys racing down a hill in carts made from soap boxes and crates. Inspired, Scott decided to organize a gravity-powered race, and the first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton in 1934.
The national racing program for boys and girls ages 8 to 17 hosts more than 500 races each year.
Unlike the early days, when a kid might fashion his car out of planks from a tree house, the cars come in kits that are purchased from Derby Headquarters in Akron and can be assembled in as little as three to five hours. They cost between $500 and $600 each, but many companies sponsor drivers. Home Depot donated kits to kids who couldn’t afford them and hosted a clinic showing recipients how to build them.
Frank Van Landingham showed up Saturday to help Ricardo de la Rosa and Evert Mungia, students at Pasadena’s Muir High School, build their car from scratch. His employer, Computer Sciences Corp., is sponsoring two cars in the May 24 race. He and several others, including Rob McKeown of the California Family Soap Box Derby Assn. and Ricardo and Evert’s science teacher, Dave Herman, helped the boys begin assembling and aligning the cars.
A Web site and phone assistance are available to builders, but Van Landingham noted that the key to building a great racer is the derby fanatics themselves.
“It’s amazing the minutiae these guys know in regards to building something that is aerodynamically correct,” he said, gesturing to McKeown. “He has Soap Box Derby is in his blood,” added Clyde Hemphill, deputy director of the La Canada derby. “When you get down to a hundredth of a second [between finishers], these things matter.”
That Soap Box Derby blood must have passed down to McKeown’s daughter, Kimberly, 13, who will race next week. She joins a growing number of girls who have taken up the sport.
Girls were admitted to the derby in 1971 and today the numbers of boys and girls is almost equal. Kimberly was quick to point out why girls may have an advantage. “They are technically better drivers than boys,” she said, “because they can get lower in the car.”
Jensen Higley, 13, of La Canada High School, wrote a contest-winning 100-word essay that landed her a spot in next week’s race. Jensen vowed to “give the whole endeavor 100% effort [and] never back down -- even if the experience turns out to be harder than I expect.” She further noted, “I am also very physically flexible which probably might help when bending over in a soap-box car.”
“She wrote a wonderful essay,” said Karl Johnson, a Kiwanis member. “Kiwanis is about community service, and the Soap Box Derby has that community appeal.”
Added Hemphill: “It’s great to see the kids bond with their adult handler, build a car and take personal pride in what they’ve done. It’s what this race is all about.”
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Here’s how to get your car up to speed
Many things contribute to winning a Soap Box Derby. A San Diego kid who rubbed graphite all over his face to reduce wind resistance was the 1941 winner. The next year, all lubricants, including graphite, were outlawed. A few more strategies, from basic to silly:
Weight: The heavier a car is, the faster it will go. In stock cars, the fastest posture requires the driver to scoot back against the rear of the cockpit to prevent air from flowing along the back and then being scooped into the opening, causing wind drag.
Steering: Ride the crown of the road and steer straight. Some theorize that it’s best not to steer for the first 20 or 30 yards while the car builds speed. Steering needs to be adjusted to allow comfort for the driver and to prevent unnecessary wheel movement.
Superstition: In place of washers to prevent the steering column from rubbing against the racer’s floor, many kids use a quarter from the year they were born for good luck.
Drag: Many recommend installing foam in the front and back of stock cars and all around the cockpit to reduce wind resistance.
Experience: Kids who have raced before generally do better than those who haven’t. “It’s like using a hammer,” says Clyde Hemphill. “The first time, you get sore thumbs. The second time, you’re a lot smarter.”
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Soap Box Derby
What: All-American Soap Box Derby Greater Los Angeles Championship
Where: “Michigan Hill” in La Canada, on Foothill Boulevard between Daleridge Road and Viro Road
When: May 24. Opening ceremony, 8:30 a.m.; car parade, 9:15 a.m.; first-time drivers’ practice run, 9:30 a.m.; race, 10 a.m.
Info: (818) 790-9901; www.lacanadakiwanis.org/derby or www.aasbd.org
