Posted On August 29, 2012

The Village of Plaster Rock is hosting their 2nd Annual Soap Box Derby on September 15, 2012.
 
These races, which use the force of gravity only to power the vehicles, have been around almost as long as auto racing.
 

In the wake of the very first car races, local kid auto races soon began all across North America.
 

Charlie Chaplin made his very first appearance as his iconic character, “The Little Tramp” in the 1914 flick “Kid Auto Races at Venice, California.”
 

You can watch this nearly 100 year old classic Chaplin movie online. It’s only 6 minutes long. In
it, Chaplin’s Tramp character shows up at a Soap Box Derby, and sporting his soon to be iconic mustache and derby hat, tries to sneak into every camera shot, much to the frustration and annoyance of the camera men who are attempting to film the race. The original Camera Hog, maybe!
 
Check it out to watch a legend in the making. Who knew then that within a year of this film being made Chaplin, and his Tramp character, would be one of the most famous men in the world!
 
In 1933 a local newspaper in Ohio organized an impromptu race for 19 boys. There was so much buzz and interest over this event that a bigger race was arranged with prize money. An amazing crowd of 362 kids showed up with cars built of orange crates, sheet tin, wagon and baby buggy wheels and whatever else they could lay their inventive little hands on.
 
And thus, the official Soap Box Derby was born!
 
Nowadays, Soap Box Derby racing has gotten a lot more sophisticated. Local events still feature kids with simple cars they make themselves, but on the international scene the races feature high tech components to create the fastest gravity racers possible.
 
During the sport’s heyday back in the 1950’s & 60’s the Soap Box Derby was one of the top five sporting events in terms of attendance.
 
And alas, as with all competitions, the sport has attracted its share of cheaters. Consider this astonishing tale of nefarious behavior foisted on an event as wholesome as a Soap Box Derby.
 
In 1973, 14 year old Jimmy Gronen of Boulder, CO 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 unusual dimensions of Gronen’s margins of victory and heat times tipped off derby officials to illegal circumstances surrounding Gronen’s racer. Subsequent X-ray examination of his car revealed an electromagnet in the nose. When activated at the starting line, the electromagnet would pull the car forward by attracting it to the steel paddle used to start the race. Gronen would activate the electromagnet by leaning his helmet against the backrest of his seat, which activated its power source. This became very evident as Gronen’s heat times progressively slowed down as the race wore on, because the electromagnet lost strength each time it was activated. Usually, heat times get faster each time a racer completes a heat. Videotape of the race also showed a suspiciously sudden lead for Gronen just a few feet after each heat began. The margin of victory for a race heat will normally be no more than 1 to 3 feet. Gronen’s early heat victories were in the 20 to 30 feet range. (Aluminum insulator plates were added to the starting ramps in 1974 to render an electromagnetic system useless.)
 
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.
 
In the final heat, Gronen finished narrowly ahead of Bret Yarborough. Within two days, Yarborough was declared the 1973 champion.
 
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.
 
Lange’s son, Bob Lange Jr. (and Jimmy Gronen’s cousin) had won the previous 1972 Derby using a car considered to be indistinguishable from the vehicle used by Gronen was also banned from any future participation in the All-American Soap Box Derby.
 
This story is like something out of the comics! Evil wealthy industrialist schooling his dastardly wards in the fine art of cheating…
 
We won’t see any of this foolishness at our event! Be sure to come to Plaster Rock on the 15th and join in the fun!

Stephanie Kelley