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Last Updated: May 9, 2008 - 9:13 AM |
This year one of the newest events to be added to the Stromsburg Swedish Festival will be a Soap Box Derby race. There will be three age categories for contestants. “Little Monsters” - 5 to 10 years old, “Driver’s Ed. Students” - 11 to 15 and “Crash Test Dummies” - 16 to 111. Teams can have a maximum of three members, a driver, starter and chief engineer. According to the rules, all others such as cheerleaders, or boy friends must stay on the curb.
The course will be on East 4th Street, in front of the high school. Heats races consisting of two cars will race each other. The track position will be a random draw. The driver’s must wear, a helmet with a chin strap along with gloves that are either leather or synthetic.
According to Tina Courter, soap box derby organizer, the event will follow very similar rules established by the AASBD, the All-American Soap Box Derby. There is also another type of soap box derby race that has gained momentum and popularity over the years that has been sponsored by the Red Bull company. This race allows for more flexibility in design and self expression when it comes to the building of the race cars. The Stromsburg event will be a balancing of the best of both from these two types of races. Tina stated, “We want it to be fun and creative. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a certified type of vehicle like the AASBD requires.” There are some specifics that do have to be adhered to as far as the design goes. The car must have four wheels on the ground at all times. It must be totally gravity powered. No Motors, springs, sails, etc. The car must have a braking system. {Dragging your feet will not qualify} The car must have a steering system. There has to an area on the front to display a five inch square number. There can be no added weight to the vehicle, it must all be included in the construction. The maximum weight of the car cannot exceed 175 pounds without the driver. The car cannot be wider than four feet or longer than six feet.
For those who are looking for ideas to get the project off the ground check out www.asbd.org for suggestions and design ideas. Also www.redbullsoapboxusa.com has additional ideas for those who might be more inclined to go the customized route.
A panel of judges will award point values in three different categories. (1) Fastest Time, (2) Show Car, best looking, bizarre, or most creative and (3) Team Spirit. The team with the most cumulative points in these three categories will win.
Organizers of the event hope that there are plenty of competitors out there who would enjoy designing, then engineering and building the perfect drag racing vehicle powered by gravity. Finding the perfect combination of artistic self expression coupled with aerodynamics and good old fashion driving skills should make for some fun to watch competition.
For more information contact Tina Courter at 402-363-1231.
© Copyright 2008 by polkcountynewspaper.com
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