Horsepower Hooligans Soapbox Race Day!

[Drache]

It should be noted that Westen did show up with his car but sadly the steering linkage snapped and could no be fixed. Instead Westen and his dad raced together using the yellow Gokart!

First off is the members and their cars that showed up!




Next comes some of the soapbox cars that showed up!







The black "Jeep" one was made from the chassis of kid's quad! Had the best steering and breaking system there and was pretty speedy! The go karts that you see all had the engines removed and were speedy as well although they could be beaten. The wire frame car with the scorpion on it was the very last car to race and was wrecked. Kid was fine although luckily he had a full helmet on as he landed on his face.



Here's a picture of Westen's sister and her "car". This was a very fast little thing although very touchy to steer. She won in her weight class although her winning race she rolled it after crossing the finish line. She was fine with nothing more than a bruise and a tiny amount of road rash on her foot. She didn't win best rollover trophy either, that was given to a kid who rolled the Mystery Machine. He had more slight injuries but was fine and laughed when he got the trophy.



This car was pretty fast although it started slowing down due to the way the brake system would stop one back tire. Pretty soon the back tire started developing flat spots.



We had people on Quads with tow ropes to drag the kids and their carts back up to the top!



Races were done 1 on 1 in a round robin event!






Here's Westen getting his medal for winning his weight class and I believe the trophy is the "Bad Luck" trophy on his car breaking down before he could race it.



This is Cameron who owns the Hot Rod car the club built! He too won his weight class! Yes his has a Hooligans shift on, the logo is just on the back!



Here is the kid who won the random draw for the Mystery Machine! Go figure it was a kid with a hooligans shirt on!



Then there was a trophy for people's choice of best looking car! John-Paul and Renee got the trophy for the Hot Rod Soapbox!



Here are all the Hooligan Built cars to date!



Here are the drivers! Westen didn't want to be in the picture because he didn't get to drive his car.

[JB400]

Sounds like everyone had a really good time.  Glad the weather was great and everyone had fun.

[Drache]

http://youtu.be/i3cpO6ZtNiw

[JB400]

Very cool

[Drache]

The youtube link I posted is to the GoPro I mounted on Cameron's Hot Rod 

[Drache]

Gravity racers burned up the pavement on Friday evening

Excitement was in the air on Friday evening as kids of all ages sped down 4th Avenue at the second annual Soap Box Derby sponsored by Cariboo GM and the Horsepower Hooligans.

There were tough-looking replica Jeeps, unibody hot rods decorated with flames and covered with sponsor stickers, while the main body of some of the racers consisted of a slightly modified wheel barrow. Some soaps were constructed of nothing but plywood -- including the steering wheel, and had a hockey stick for a brake handle. The thing they all had in common was that they brought smiles to their occupants, as well as the large crowd of spectators.

The racers, fuelled by creativity and competitive fun, began atop Barnard Street, picked up speed as they battled for the checkered flag at the bottom of the hill near Cariboo GM and were greeted by volunteers who helped them get stopped and turn around. More volunteers then towed the speedsters back up to the top of the hill with an ATV – all still part of the adventure for the drivers.

Each participant went home with a medal to commemorate the event, while the winners in each category received a custom-designed trophy. Westen Becker won the 50-60 pond class, Cameron Prest won the 65-85 pound class and Brett Melville took first in the 100 pound class. Eight year old Soloman Akeson and seven year old Maria Becker took home 'hard luck' trophies after both surviving crashes.

Jesse Galloway entered and won the 'Mystery Machine', a Horsepower Hooligan built a derby car specifically created to give away in a free raffle at this year's event. "I'm going to practise a bit on smaller hills before I race it," Jesse wisely decided. He explained that the only other thing he'd ever won was a hot chocolate by rolling up the rim, so this was a really big deal. His Mom, who was just as thrilled about the car as Jesse was, said she hoped he would be competing in next year's race.

Lorne Doerksen was the emcee, and kept the races rolling back to back for the maximum spectator satisfaction. Volunteers from Cariboo GM served up burgers and served refreshments, and members of the Lakers Car Club were on site with their show cars on this warm and sunny evening.

There are already plans in the works for even more human-powered race cars to join the ranks next year.

http://welcometowilliamslake.ca/index.php/events/local-events/7075-soap-box-derby-williams-lake.html

[Drache]

Here is one of the crashes. Last race of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12O5zPQJ9ag