NEW RECORD SET – THREE TEAMS REACH SPEEDS OVER 45 MPH

Red Bull Soapbox Race Los Angeles brought out the Wild Things, the Tin Man and a team of firemen…oh yeah, and did we mention the crowd of 111,000?!? Despite the rising temperatures, Angelenos came out in droves to watch 40 homemade soapboxes from across the US race through Downtown L.A.’s streets. The urban course caused crash after crash with jumps, a 90-degree turn and tight chicanes, but some teams managed to master the elements and tore through the finish line at lightning speed – with three teams reaching speeds over 45mph!

San Francisco’s Team Ironheade claimed the top podium spot and a V.I.P. NASCAR experience with their soapbox modeled after the soon-to-be-released video game Brütal Legend. Their blistering speed and heavy metal rock theme tore the course to shreds, and with it, the competition. The team driver, Sean Feeley, “just tried to keep two wheels on the ground, but by the end I didn’t have any brakes!” Local team Ludicrous Speed!!! took second place with their Winnebago and memorable costumes and skit based on the movie Spaceballs. The third place team also won the People’s Choice Award, and they aren’t even from L.A.! Denver’s Team Speed Racer won the hearts of Southern California and a day of high-speed go-kart racing with their seamless replica of the famous Mach 5.

Additional crafts that braved the unforgiving course included a lifeguard tower, a grand piano, an oversized bottle of Tapatio hot sauce, a giant brain, a banana hammock, and college rivals USC and UCLA mascots.

STARS, SPEED AND SWEAT

Teams were judged on three criteria – speed, creativity and showmanship – by a panel of celebrity judges including acting legend Erik Estrada, “American Idol” contestant Kimberly Caldwell, motocross star and World Record holder Ronnie Renner, ESPN SportsCenter Host Stan Verrett and X Games host Sal Masekela. Estrada said the event, “was a lot of fun – Red Bull really made a nice contribution to the community,” whereas Renner couldn’t get over the day’s crashes which gained instant respect from the world class athlete: “Let’s face it, you can get hurt here just as bad as you can at the X Games – and these guys aren’t professional athletes, so it’s pretty cool.”

Angelenos were also met with a few familiar voices over the loudspeaker including Jillian Barberie Reynolds and Paul Rodriguez who both hosted the day’s festivities.

THE WHEELS OF HISTORY

Los Angeles may be the latest pit stop, but the Red Bull Soapbox roads have been braved by many daredevils before. The first Red Bull Soapbox Race took place in Belgium in 2000, and has since visited almost 30 countries including Austria, England, Jamaica, Czech Republic and Australia to name a few. The first U.S. event was held in St. Louis in 2006 and the event made two U.S. stops this year in Atlanta (August 29) and Los Angeles (September 26).

It may be fast, it may be wild, it may even be weird, but there are rules to keep it legal. All driving machines must be entirely human-powered – no stored power or external energy sources allowed – though they must have a braking system. To maintain ground clearance, soapboxes should sit at least 7″ from the ground, and be no taller than 7′ high. And finally, all soapboxes can have one or two drivers, but must weigh no more than 176 lbs (without the drivers).

Full article: http://redbulldragsterday.com/LosAngeles-2009/default.aspx

Looks like they mentioned our car during a highlight of the museum. Not to shabby considering there are a minimum of 100 cars in that museum at any one time!

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – September 27, 2009) – Red Bull Soapbox Race Los Angeles brought out the Wild Things, the Tin Man and a team of firemen… oh yeah, and did we mention the crowd of 110,000?!? Despite the rising temperatures, Angelenos came out in droves to watch 40 homemade soapboxes from across the U.S. race through Downtown L.A.’s streets. The urban course caused crash after crash with jumps, a 90-degree turn and tight chicanes, but some teams managed to master the elements and tore through the finish line at lightning speed — with three teams reaching over 45mph!

San Francisco’s Team Ironheade claimed the top podium spot and a V.I.P. NASCAR experience with their soapbox modeled after the soon-to-be-released video game Brütal Legend. Their blistering speed and heavy metal rock theme tore the course to shreds, and with it, the competition. And they now go into the Red Bull Soapbox Race record books for achieving the fasted speed ever — 46.1mph. The team driver, Sean Feeley, “just tried to keep two wheels on the ground, but by the end I didn’t have any brakes!” Local team Ludicrous Speed!!! took second place with their Winnebago and memorable skit based on the movie “Spaceballs.” The third place team also won the People’s Choice Award, and they aren’t even from L.A.! Denver’s Team Speed Racer won the hearts of Southern California and a day of high-speed go-kart racing with their seamless replica of the famous Mach 5.

Additional crafts that braved the unforgiving course included a lifeguard tower, a grand piano, an oversized bottle of Tapatío hot sauce, a giant brain, a banana hammock, the Hollywood sign and college rivals USC and UCLA mascots.

STARS, SPEED AND SWEAT

Teams were judged on three criteria — speed, creativity and showmanship — by a panel of celebrity judges including acting legend Erik Estrada, “American Idol” contestant Kimberly Caldwell, motocross star and World Record holder Ronnie Renner, ESPN SportsCenter Host Stan Verrett and X Games host Sal Masekela. Estrada said the event “was a lot of fun — Red Bull really made a nice contribution to the community,” whereas Renner couldn’t get over the day’s crashes which gained instant respect from the world class athlete: “Let’s face it, you can get hurt here just as bad as you can at the X Games — and these guys aren’t professional athletes, so it’s pretty cool.”

Angelenos were also met with a few familiar voices over the loudspeaker including Jillian Barberie Reynolds and Paul Rodriguez, who both hosted the day’s festivities.

THE WHEELS OF HISTORY

Los Angeles may be the latest pit stop, but the Red Bull Soapbox roads have been braved by many daredevils before. The first Red Bull Soapbox Race took place in Belgium in 2000, and has since visited almost 40 countries including Austria, England, Jamaica, Czech Republic and Australia to name a few. The first U.S. event was held in St. Louis in 2006 and the event made two U.S. stops this year in Atlanta (August 29) and Los Angeles (September 26).

It may be fast, it may be wild, it may even be weird, but there are rules to keep it legal. All driving machines must be entirely human-powered — no stored power or external energy sources allowed — though they must have a braking system. To maintain ground clearance, soapboxes should sit at least 7″ from the ground, and be no taller than 7′ high. And finally, all soapboxes can have one or two drivers, but must weigh no more than 176 lbs (without the drivers).

IN OTHER CAR NEWS

It seemed as though Speed Racer’s Mach 5 was every boy’s dream car when I was growing up. Now a team has brought that dream to life. A design magazine called core77 has a photo-by-photo roundup of how Team Speed Racer built their car for the Red Bull Soapbox race in Los Angeles.

Pops, Trixie, Spritle and Chim Chim were all on hand for race day. Autoweek has a story and photo gallery of the race.

Don’t let the name fool you. These “soapboxes” are dream cars come to life. Using foam, tubing and many other materials, the result is nothing short of amazing.

Bringing more than 100,000 fans as well as 42 soapbox racers to downtown Los Angeles, Saturday’s Red Bull Soapbox Derby saw dozens of loopy performances by unique soapboxes racing down Grand Avenue and 5th Street. UCLA was represented by the Team Bruins soapbox.
Led by captain David Ruiz, a second-year medical student at UCLA, the Team Bruins soapbox crashed twice on the way down but was able to finish, though not close to the top three. Team Speed Racer, driven by Matt Fisher, recorded the best time of the day. When asked about his perfect run, Fisher said: “Basically, the Mach 5 is the greatest car ever built.”

With over 110,000 spectators in attendance, the Red Bull Soap Box Derby in Los Angeles, CA was truly an amazing event. People from all over crowded in to the city streets to see the spectacle… people even scaled up the side of nearby buildings just to have a better view of everything going on.
The day started with pit road being open to the public to allow spectators meet the teams and see their wild and crazy creations. The craftsmanship into the soap box race cars was truly amazing, everything from cardboard to fiberglass to welded metal and custom paint was utilized in the various race car builds. Each racer was truly a piece of art and most teams had fun themes to go along with their car. After everything was set, the Red Bull sponsored Nascar race vehicle drove up and down the track with high revs and squealing tires to get everyone excited for what was to come next. Then everyone was suddenly looking up into the sky as a Red Bull themed parachuter came soaring down through the clouds with a smoke stream shooting from his feet.
With that… it was time for the racing to begin. The course itself had slight turns through out with one major peaked turn by the celebrity judging stand in the middle of the track. There were also other elements such as jumps in the middle of the downhill track that made it quite the spectacle.
The official press release from RedBull is below:
MORE THAN 110,000 ANGELENOS CROWDED DOWNTOWN’S STREETS AT RED BULL SOAPBOX RACE L.A.
NEW RECORD SET – THREE TEAMS REACH SPEEDS OVER 45 MPH
LOS ANGELES – September 26, 2009 – Red Bull Soapbox Race Los Angeles brought out the Wild Things, the Tin Man and a team of firemen…oh yeah, and did we mention the crowd of 111,000?!? Despite the rising temperatures, Angelenos came out in droves to watch 40 homemade soapboxes from across the US race through Downtown L.A.’s streets. The urban course caused crash after crash with jumps, a 90-degree turn and tight chicanes, but some teams managed to master the elements and tore through the finish line at lightning speed – with three teams reaching over 45mph!
San Francisco’s Team Ironheade claimed the top podium spot and a V.I.P. NASCAR experience with their soapbox modeled after the soon-to-be-released video game Brütal Legend. Their blistering speed and heavy metal rock theme tore the course to shreds, and with it, the competition. And they now go into the Red Bull Soapbox Race record books for achieving the fasted speed ever – 46.1mph. The team driver, Sean Feeley, “just tried to keep two wheels on the ground, but by the end I didn’t have any brakes!” Local team Ludicrous Speed!!! took second place with their Winnebago and memorable skit based on the movie Spaceballs. The third place team also won the People’s Choice Award (decided by spectator text messaging), and they aren’t even from L.A.! Denver’s Team Speed Racer won the hearts of Southern California and a day of high-speed go-kart racing with their seamless replica of the famous Mach 5.
Additional crafts that braved the unforgiving course included a lifeguard tower, a grand piano, an oversized bottle of Tapatío hot sauce, a giant brain, a banana hammock, the Hollywood sign and college rivals USC and UCLA mascots.
STARS, SPEED AND SWEAT
Teams were judged on three criteria – speed, creativity and showmanship – by a panel of celebrity judges including acting legend Erik Estrada, “American Idol” contestant Kimberly Caldwell, motocross star and World Record holder Ronnie Renner, ESPN SportsCenter Host Stan Verrett and X Games host Sal Masekela. Estrada said the event, “was a lot of fun – Red Bull really made a nice contribution to the community,” whereas Renner couldn’t get over the day’s crashes which gained instant respect from the world class athlete: “Let’s face it, you can get hurt here just as bad as you can at the X Games – and these guys aren’t professional athletes, so it’s pretty cool.” 

Angelenos were also met with a few familiar voices over the loudspeaker including Jillian Barberie Reynolds and Paul Rodriguez, who both hosted the day’s festivities.

The first Red Bull soapbox race took place in Belgium in 2000, and has now visited almost 40 countries since, including Austria, England, Jamaica to name a few. In 2006 the first U.S. event was held in St. Louis.

40 teams from across the united states participated in the Red Bull Soapbox Races in Los Angeles California. More than 110,000 people crowded Downtown to watch this event. Free to the public Red Bull sponsored a successful race that Angelenos enjoyed taking part of. Streets were filled, people were hanging from the trees as well as the street lights. Los Angeles took the title from San Francisco for the Largest number of spectators at this event.

The event started with the preliminary judging where participants pulled out all the stops! There was, Babe Watch, Alice in Wonderland, Ludicrous Speed, Banana Hammock, Firefighters and of course the Pole Dancers…. which generated the most attention and wild reviews! Although their entire exhibit was a hoax the only person dancing down the road was a man swinging from the pole. Disappointing for most they earned a score of Zero! The teams were judged on 3 criteria, Speed , Creativity, and Showmanship..

The juges which included, acting legend Erik Estreada, American Idol contestant Kimberley Caldwell and X Box games and E entertainment host Sal Masekela to name a few, were on board to help  drive this race home! Stand-up comedian Paul Rodrigez was one of the hosts adding a light hearted edge to the start of the race.

The winning team Ironheade from San Francisco, also set the record for the fastest race ever at 46.1 mph! Second place winner went to Pasadena Team Ludicrous Speed  and both third and People’s Choice Award went to Colorado’s Speed Racer.Quick and comical the Red Bull soapbox races were right up my alley for excitement and fun! I will attend again!

full article here http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-334706

No one really knows the precise makeup of the stuff that fills those ubiquitous Red Bull energy drink cans, but the compelling mixture seems to make people accomplish extraordinary things.

For instance, on Saturday in Los Angeles, it got the city to shut down a long stretch of Grand Avenue and part of 5th Street for the wacky and spectacular Red Bull Soapbox Race Los Angeles. These events have been held regularly since the inaugural race in Belgium in 2000. Silly contraptions have plummeted down courses in 30 countries, each event sponsored by Red Bull.

Saturday’s race featured 40 wheeled concoctions lined up at the top of Grand Avenue’s steepest section and launched one by one into the crowd- and hay-bale-lined void. The carts sometimes bounced off the hay bales and sometimes spun out or flopped over trying to negotiate the high banking where the course turned left onto 5th Street at the library. The bigger the wreck, the more the crowd of 111,000 cheered. There were no injuries.

All entries had to be human powered, have seven inches of ground clearance and be less than seven feet tall. Those were the only restrictions. Thus you had a giant nose, a giant brain, a fake fire engine and an accurate Mach 5, the latter complete with a Trixie, Spritle and a Chim-Chim.

We got to speak to the Nose driver. Did people “pick” him to win?

“If they did, it’ll be by a nose,” driver Travis Abels said, adding, “Did you know the nose never stops growing?” Abels failed to cite a source for that piece of medical dogma.

The day was like the original Soap Box Derby in Akron, except that one of the “cars” was built around a stripper pole and featured a delightful pair from a local gentlemen’s club. Just before that car launched, a “government official” claimed the two strippers couldn’t go and commandeered the ride, ripping off his sweat suit, exposing his flabby body and grabbing the pole himself for the ride. The team name was “Pole Position.”

Other outstanding entries included a life-guard tower titled “Babe Watch, Tower 69,” an oversized bottle of Tapatio hot sauce and a highly accurate rendering of Max’s boat from Where the Wild Things Are. We asked the Wild Things entry if they’d gotten sponsorship from the upcoming movie.

“No, we just like the book,” said a small woman dressed as a monster.

It was just another day in L.A.