# Get me up to speed on Soap Box Derbies **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 15, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445 "2008-05-15T15:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445/1 "2008-05-15T15:38:22Z")
I might as well be from another solar system. I knew nothing about soap box derbies until 15 minutes ago, and what little I have learned just makes me more confused. I understand ‘the point’, which is to win a race. But I ain’t ‘getting it’, so to speak. What I don’t understand is what control one has in winning the race. I seems to be broken down to the point that the only difference between on car and another is the kid inside and then they use weights to nullify that…? The car is supposed to be as ‘generic’ as possible and each car should be about as identical to each other car as possible…is that correct? So, if little Johnny can input the least amount of steering control and maintain his straightest line course, that is about all little Johnny can do to affect the outcome? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445/2 "2008-05-15T16:14:14Z")
I’ve never participated in one, but aerodynamics would be my first guess. Who can spray the most WD-40 on their axles would be my second. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445/3 "2008-05-15T17:07:55Z")
Weight distribution is a factor. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445/4 "2008-05-15T17:09:56Z")
Welcome to Akron, Ohio, home of the All-American Soap Box Derby, the Greatest Amateur Racing Event in the World, run nationally since 1934! (They skipped a couple years during WWII, so 2008 is the 71st year.) Here at [http://www.aasbd.com/](http://www.aasbd.com/) you will find the answers to many of your questions, including the official rules for entry, and technical specs. Yes, it is a gravity race, and driver’s weight, steering, and similar factors are supposed to be the deciders. When the kids come into town, they are escorted by police with siren and lights to downtown. They stay at Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps during the event, while their parents usually stay in hotels. They exchange souvenirs – pins and such – much like Olympians do. It is really cool to see. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445/5 "2008-05-15T18:13:23Z")
I was born and raised in the ‘inner city’, in Philadelphia, Pa. Everything about the derby makes me cringe. ( I am 41, with two kids now, 6 and 8, living in South Jersey, in suburban sprawl. It’s seems very Midwest USA to me, and not one thing about it strikes a chord in me. It just seems too…something. I saw the rules and FAQs, but I don’t think I can see the appeal when the rules are such. I was hoping I was missing something that could hook me. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445/6 "2008-05-16T13:33:51Z")
Come to Akron and watch the kids. That’ll hook you. When they pull into town in the Family Truckster with \*Go Britt '08 Super Stock \* written in white shoe polish on the back windows and spend all day gawping at the Inventors Hall of Fame, you’ll get the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445/7 "2008-05-16T18:19:13Z")
I always figured the precision with which you build your racer would be the key. Make sure the wheels don’t wobble, and track as straight as possible; that sort of thing. Aerodynamics, too. Now that I know a little physics, I could think of a few other tricks. Put the weight as far back as possible, so it starts farther up the hill and gives you a little more potential energy at the start. Or you could have a moving weight; as the driver pulled it backwards that would push the car forward a little bit. Although, that sounds like something that would be outside the rules. They could have an unlimited class that allowed stuff like that. I’d love to see what people would come up with. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-me-up-to-speed-on-soap-box-derbies/449445/8 "2008-05-17T01:18:37Z")
Hell. I’ve lived in Akron since 1971. It’s Ohio kitsch. When it started in the 1930s, it was a neat thing. The article to which I will link in the next paragraph said > [@](#): > > Interest peaked in 1962, when the announced crowd of 75,000 made the All-American the fifth-biggest sporting event in the world that year. (Nowadays(2003) 15,000 is a good draw.) And, I think, through the 40s-50’s, maybe the 60’s, it was still a good thing. Anything that gets kids involved in _something_ is good. But, like many other things, it gets taken too seriously by some(anyone say [Texas Mom Cheerleader Murder?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_Holloway) ) The first time I remember reading about a cheating scandal involving the Derby, it was [1973](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/features/si50/states/ohio/downhill/) and the “winner” was tossed for having an electromagnet and hidden battery in his car to give it a faster start!