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Soap Box Derby Racing in Colorado Springs

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Contributed by: glenn scott on 3/14/2007

Since the 1950s, Colorado Springs local Soap Box Derby race has been staged on Costilla Street. This long, gentle hill with a 4 percent grade affords a track very close in scale to the national race conducted at Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio. About 700 feet long, cars released at the top of the hill from a specially constructed starting ramp, allow the gravity powered cars to reach speeds of 28 mph.

Derby cars must be built from kits acquired from All American Soap Box Derby. Cars are no longer built from scraps in daddy's garage! No more orange crates. The new cars are finely engineered and tuned to perfection to be able to compete in races determined by time differences measured in thousandths of a second. The kits and regulation wheels allow cars to be fairly standardized, which levels the playing field for all and creates some very close competition.

Racers must build their own cars with adult assistance where needed. Youngsters between 8 and 14 may compete in the Stock Division. The Super Stock and Masters Divisions are for kids between 10 and 17.

This year's race will beJune 24 with a practice sessionJune 10. More than 50 entries are expected. The race is conducted on a double elimination framework, which allows a driver to complete several runs. Trophies are awarded for place finishers and the grand prizes are expense paid trips for the champs to Akron to compete in the all-American race.

For registration and more information, please visit ppsbd.com, or call 488-8808.

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments

Submitted By: carrie n miller

posted on 2/8/2008 @ 5:59:19 AM

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Great article; there is a Downhill gravity race in Cripple Creek on Saturday the 16th Feb during the Ice Carving festival. Go here: http://www.cripplecreekevents.com/images/ice_fest_schedule_events.pdf for the full schedule of events! Very Fun!

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 3/18/2007 @ 11:01:53 AM

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There is a story that when the founder of Daniels Chevorlet - a long lived Colorado Springs car business - saw the westside downhill racing, he had an idea. He is purported to have taken the idea to Dayton Ohio where it got started. I have my doubts about that, but there IS a Chevorlet connection, the soapbox derby and Colorado Springs. Most writers credit a newspaperman Scott with inviting other cities to put entries into an annual race there. And he, Scott, later worked for Chevrolet. So it is quite possible Bill Daniels, a Chevorlet dealer, who knew about the local westside races - and maybe even sponsored local ones in the early 30s, and knew - through national Chevorlet promotions and sponsorship there was a 'national' race. In any case the local soapbox racing was sure very early - Ira Current saying he and his kid buddies were doing it in the 20s. Because they sure had on the far westside of Colorado Springs, hills perfect for kids to play on.

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 3/15/2007 @ 4:35:48 PM

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Nice story. But actually Soap Box Racing started on the old Westside in the 1920s! The kids roared down Ridge Road from the Garden of the Gods. Here is the story and pictures by still-living (in his high 90s) Ira Current who was there http://history.oldcolo.com/history/genhist/neighbor/fourwhee.html

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glenn scott

colorado springs , CO

glenn scott has posted 25 stories and 1 comment since joining on 1/29/2007. glenn scott 's average story rating is 5.

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