# Soap Box Derby



## bczoom

Anyone know much about it?

My daughter has an opportunity to become a driver of an established team but before we offer it to her, I'd like to give her an idea of what it's like.


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## bczoom

Bump.

Well, my daughter did race last year and again this year and really likes it.

The track is about 1/4 mile long and the cars reach speeds over 30 mph.  You race your opponent twice (once in each lane).  The time differences at the finish are tracked for each of the 2 races.  The winner finishes (wins) by times measured in the hundredths or thousandths of a second.  

It's a more specialized event then I thought.

If done properly, the cars are seriously "tweaked".  They do things like put micrometers on the axles/spindles to check/adjust tow-in and such so the tires are perfect.

Prior to the race, cars are torn down, inspected, re-assembled and impounded to assure everything is right.  The drivers are also put in the vehicles and get markings on their helmets that match to a corresponding spot on the car.  This assures the drivers can't/don't shift their weight during the race to change their speeds.

First thing on race day, all cars (with drivers in the seat) get weighed.  All must be within 1 pound.  There's also limits on front and rear axle weights.

When paired with your opponent, you have to start by swapping 2 tires with them.  After the first race, you swap all 4 tires for the 2nd race.

Just before your race (when being loaded in the shoots), tires are cleaned and other things for aerodynamics are adjusted.  A pebble on a tire or a wrinkle in your shirt is enough to loose a race.

Here's a couple pics.
My daughter is the 2nd driver (sitting between the red and blue car)
Here's a pic of the track (and if you look closely, there's 2 cars coming down the hill).  The truck in the rear is pulling a trailer and is used for taking the cars (4 per trailer) back up to the top.


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## buckle97

bczoom said:


> First thing on race day, all cars (with drivers in the seat) get weighed. All must be within 1 pound. There's also limits on front and rear axle weights.


 
Are you saying that every car+driver that races that day has to basically be the same weight as every other car+driver? I can see getting the cars to be the same weight, but it seems like it would be very difficult for all the kids to weigh the same.


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## bczoom

Yes.  In the "Stock" class (where my daughter runs), car+driver must be 200 pounds combined.  I think the distribution is 112# on the rear axle, 88# on front axle.  You keep a pile of weights with you that slide onto bolts that are in the front and rear.  You add/remove the weights until you're just right.  The little kids (and there's some pretty small ones) only weigh about 40# so their cars weigh about 160#.

For the bigger kids, there's a "Super Stock" class which have more room inside the cars.  I believe their combined weight is 230# (but the cars I believe are actually slower due to aerodynamics of the body).


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## buckle97

Thanks for the explanation.  I was mistakenly thinking the cars would have to all be the same weight and therefore the kids would have to be the same weight.  I hadn't thought about being able to add weight to the cars.


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## bczoom

Bump.

Another race season has been completed.

My daughter grew about 10" in the past year.  Well, she went to get into her car and couldn't fit anymore.  She had to move up to the Super Stock class (which have more room in the cars).

My son is still too young to race (you have to be at least 8 years old), so we lent her car out to a new driver.

Erica (my daughter) had a banner day and came in 5th overall.  At the beginning of the day, she was beating everybody.  Unfortunately, as the day progressed she didn't do as well.  Amongst others, she beat the car/driver who was expected to be the overall winner for the day as well as another very experienced driver (the son of one of the race Directors).

It's been a week but if I recall correctly, she raced 10 times against 5 drivers.

The races are very close.  You race a competitor twice and the times of the 2 races are then computed.  Most finishing times are within 100th's or 1000th's of a second.  In my daughters two losing races, she lost by .08 and .06 seconds.


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## bczoom

Another fun race day.

This year, my son also got to race.  _Being the sole car handler for 2 cars kicked my butt as I had to be in multiple places at the same time._

My daughter came in 6th (of 16 cars) in the Super Stock category.  Her steering was failing which caused her to hit a cone.  Once we got it fixed, she was still flustered and didn't race as clean the remainder of the day.

My rookie son really surprised me.  He raced perfectly, following the fastest track down the road and kept his driving very clean.  Of 18 cars, he came in 3rd, losing by .03 seconds.


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## OhioTC18 RIP

That's awesome BC


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## Cowboy

Good deal & congrats BC to You & the Kids  , What no pics  . I never would have seen this thread so thanks for bumping it , brings back good memories . I have to admit the cars in the pics above are far better looking the the ones When my dad & I built mine many moons ago . I hadn,t even heard about it for years , glad to see its still around & parents & kids still take an intrest in it .


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## thcri RIP

Even though you had a work out it sounds like you had a lot of fun.   Great to be with your kids.   Empty nesting has not been good on me.


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## bczoom

OK, some pics

The Stock Class drivers

My son has the blue car.  He's the one with the green hat on.


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## bczoom

First is my son in the near lane getting ready to start.

Second and third pics are my kids at the finish line.  _I need to remind my son to stay in race position a little longer.  He popped his head up at the finish line._

My daughter is in the gold car


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## bczoom

Son getting his trophy...

Daughter getting her plaque (_1st - 3rd place get trophies, 4th - 8th get plaques_)

_The guy with the camera on the right side of the pic is a photographer with our County level newspaper.  He got a lot of pics of the kids so I'm seeing if he'll e-mail me some._


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## Doc

Congrats to both your kids Brian ...and to you for being a sucessful pit crew for both of them.     Good job.  

Great pics!  Sure looks like fun.


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## bczoom

Thanks for the kudos everyone.  I'll pass them on to the kids.


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## pirate_girl

Awwwwwwww!!! Reps Brian for being as I've always said, a real cool Dad when it comes to your kids.
You are!
Nice pictures too


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## bczoom

Thanks Lorelei!!


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## loboloco

Congrats to your kids.  Don't let the pride swell your shirt too much now.


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## bczoom

Bump.

Another race year has been completed.

Last year's updates (where my daughter won locally and went to International competition) are in this thread.
www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=48173

This year, my daughter didn't race.  _Once you go to the International Championships, you're no longer allowed to a) Race again at the same level and b) Ever have that car drive again_.  Masters is her next level but there's no local races in that class, yet.  We're going to work on getting the requisite number of vehicles and drivers together to run this class for next year.

So, my son was our only racer this year.  With a 3rd place finish his first year and a 2nd place finish last year, he was thought by many to be the "heir apparent" for this year.  It was a new race location this year so that really leveled the playing field since specific track experience was reset to zero for veteran drivers.

He struggled in one of the lanes and was weaving around a bit too much.  _There were 7 manhole covers that needed to be avoided but he was too erratic in his steering to navigate through them smoothly._

He ended up with a 4th place finish (of 15 cars in his class).  He's happy with that and as always, has a great time racing.

A couple pics.

- The track itself.
- Him in the _nearside _blocks running the track through his mind _like a slalom skier does before hitting the slope._


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## pirate_girl

4th place!
Not bad, thanks for sharing the pics again this year, Brian.


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## muleman RIP

Looks like he had a fun day and that is what matters. Good of you to help him participate.


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## EastTexFrank

Thanks for sharing.  I've enjoyed this thread over the years.

Those kids have grown.  It won't be long before they're racing around town in that new Mustang that you're going to buy for them.


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## bczoom

Thanks guys & gal.

Yea, this thread is 7 years old.  I may be able to keep it going another 7 years before they age-out and can't race anymore.

No mustang for my kids.  Their first road cars are going to be of a mass where they'll _hopefully_ be OK the first couple times they put it in a ditch.


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## OhioTC18 RIP

Thanks for sharing, it's great to see how they've progressed.


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