Floorboard Phaseout

As noted previously in our November Newsletter Akron is instituting a floorboard phaseout. We strongly recommend you check your flooorboard to make sure they meet spec. The official policy is below:

As of October 1, 2009:

The following stock and super stock laminated wood floorboards manufactured during the period of 1998 through 2005 will be phased out as follows with a final phase out date of August 1, 2012.

A description of the floorboards and their markings are as follows:

1998: The floorboards that do not have a burn stamp on them. Phase out: Immediately

1999-2001: The floorboards that have a “SBD” burn stamp on them. Phase out: No later than August 1, 2011

2002-2005: The floorboards that have a “SBD/Shield” burn stamp on them. Phase out: No later than August 1, 2012

Additionally, the following shall apply:

Stock Division: If upon measuring, any stock car that is found to have the front king pin greater than 7-15/16” from the front center of the floorboard to the center of the front kingpin, the floorboard is now considered illegal and can no longer be used.

Stock Division: The center of the front king pin to the center of the rear king pin is 61-1/8”,with a tolerance of +/- 1/16”. If upon measuring, these conditions are not met, the floorboardis now considered illegal and can no longer be used.

Super Stock Division: If upon measuring, the front king pin is found to be greater than 5-13/16” from the front center of the floorboard to the center of the front king pin, the floorboard is now considered illegal and can no longer be used.

Super Stock Division: The center of the front king pin to the center of the rear king pin is 63 3/8”, with the tolerance of +/- 1/16”. If upon measuring these conditions are not met, the floorboard is now considered illegal and can no longer be used.

The rationale behind this phase out period is listed below:
(1) Racers were permitted to re-drill their king pin hole in order to install the bushing
(2) Some racers have taken advantage of the opportunity to re-drill the king pin hole
and as a result have moved the hole closer to the rear of the car.
(3) With the above occurring, this has created an unfair advantage to the racers that
installed their bushing properly and are racing with floorboards manufactured after
2005.

Letter from Bill Evans

The Akron Beacon Journal recently published an article about the All-American Soap Box Derby’s current financial condition. This story was picked up by the Associated Press and appeared in several newspapers across the country. We feel it necessary to clarify a few misconceptions it may have created. The story seemed to suggest the Derby, based in Akron, Ohio, is on the verge of collapse. Although our situation is indeed serious, we want to assure our thousands of racers and their families across the country that we are confident support for the Derby is forthcoming. We intend on hosting our Championship Event in July 2010 in Akron, Ohio.

We are working closely with our bank to come to terms on our loan, and we’re aggressively seeking new forms of revenue. After USA Today published its own story this fall about our finances and future plans, we heard from companies and individuals interested in Derby sponsorship. We’re in discussions with some of them now. The actor, producer and director Corbin Bernsen also read the USA Today article. He was so inspired by our organization, he wrote a screenplay with the Derby in the central role. Bernsen plans to shoot part of the film in Akron, including scenes at our annual championship in July when winners from all over convene at Akron’s Derby Downs. Bernsen recently came to Akron to experience the “thrill of the hill” himself and discuss business matters, including a potential licensing fee for the Derby. We have had a groundswell of local support and we have meetings with the bank scheduled to resolve the current situation.

None of this is magic. We need money to keep the Derby dream alive for future generations of racers. We also need money to continue to expand our program into events involving alternative energies and other “green” resources. These sorts of deals take time, but we’re sure the event National Geographic recently called an American icon and SI Kids called the “coolest” will draw the support it needs to thrive.

Build your cars, follow your dreams, and we’ll see you in Akron when the cameras roll.

Sincerely,

Bill Evans
Chairman, Board of Directors
All American Soap Box Derby

New Website Launched

Salem SBD is pleased to announce the launch of our new website. Please have a look and let us know what you think:

http://salemsbd.org/

Spring and Summer 2010 Race Schedule

Race Directors from Salem, Kitsap, Mt Vernon and Stanwood met Sunday and have finalized the race schedule, see below. Exciting news of a proposed AA Rally to be held in Olympia on May 1 & 2 was also announced. More details on that race to come. So mark your calendars and plan on a busy racing season.


2010 Region 1 Soap Box Derby Schedule

March, 2010
3/20-21/10 - NDR Rally-Salem
3/27-28/10 AA Rally Vallejo Ca.

April, 2010
4/3-4/10 - Easter Sunday-No racing
4/10-11/10 - AA Rally-Salem
4/17-18/10 - AA Rally-Kitsap
4/24-25/10 - No racing

May, 2010
5/1-2/10 - AA Rally-Olympia-sanctioned by Kitsap SBDA
5/8-9/10 - Mother’s Day-No Racing
5/15/10 - Salem local pre-inspection & Mt Vernon Local Inspection
5/16/10 - Mt. Vernon Local Championship
5/22-23/10 - AA Rally-Kitsap
5/29-30/10 - Best In The West AA Rally-Salem

June, 2010
6/5-6/10 - Kitsap Local Inspection/Championship
6/12/10 - Salem Local Inspection & Banquet
6/13/10 - 59th Annual Salem Local Championship
6/19-20/10 - Father’s Day-Stanwood Local Championship
6/26-27/10 - No Racing

July, 2010
7/19-24/10 - Akron All-American Championship week
7/25-31/10 - NDR National Championship race week

2011 Race Season

August, 2010
8/7-8/10- AA Rally-Stanwood/Camano Island
8/14-15/10 - AA Summer in the City Rally-Salem
8/21-22/10 - No Racing
8/28-29/10 - AA Rally-Kitsap

September, 2010
9/4-5/10 - Labor Day Weekend
9/11-12/10 - AA Rally-Salem
9/18-19/10 - AA Rally-Mt. Vernon
9/25-26/10 - NDR Rally-Salem

October, 2010
10/2-3/10 - AA Rally-Kitsap
10/9-10/10 - AA Rally-Salem
10/16-17/10 - Open
10/23-24/10 - Open

Salem Soap Box Derby
November 17, 2009

The rains have come, the leaves are falling and the squirrels are taking over the track but the folks at Salem Soap Box Derby are already busy planning a great Spring and Summer season. Our schedule will be finalized soon and posted on our website,
www.salemsbd.org
Please check back for updates.

There are a few things we want to bring you up to date on. First of all the folks in Akron have decided in the interest of fairness to begin phasing out some of the older floorboards. This is due to rules in place at the time the floorboards were manufactured, which allowed drilling king pin holes. Some folks figured out how to re-drill the holes in such a way as to create boards with an unfair advantage. The phase out period will be in effect through August 1, 2012, with the oldest floorboards being phased out immediately. So please read the official announcement below and check your floorboard prior to the next AA Race. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us. With these rules changes in mind, we are planning a floorboard inspection day for anyone who is unsure about their floorboard, with time and place to be announced. We realize this may be a burden on some families, we just want to do everything we can now to make sure once the season begins, it goes smoothly.

Next on the agenda we are looking for volunteers to “Adopt An Oilcan Car”. As most of you have seen, our Oilcan cars are in need of some serious TLC and we’d like to get them all refurbished (and safe) for the upcoming race season. If you’d like to help out (please) and take one home to work on over the winter please let us know and we’ll get you lined up.. We’re hoping to have them all back in tiptop shape this coming season for some fun adult racing action.

We have some exciting news to tell you about. In addition to updating our website (coming very soon) we now have two new web presences to let you know about. Our Facebook fan page can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com//photo.php?pid=30399975&id=1138788343#/pages/Salem-
OR/Salem-Soap-Box-Derby/308930285222?ref=mf
We also now have a blog for news, announcements and items of general interest. Our blog is here:
http://salemsbd.blogspot.com/

Finally, we want to send out a call for new racers. The Salem SBD has cars available, they just need drivers. If you know of any interested families or children who want to be a part of the Soap Box Derby family please let us know. More racers mean more fun. But most importantly we want you back racing with us this coming Spring.

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Best Regards,
Jim Youngers, Salem SBD Race Director : salemsoapboxderby@gmail.com

PS Please contact us if you'd like to join our email list to receive future news and announcements.

A New Website

Keep your eyes out for the debut of the new Salem SBD Website. Our crack team of designers headed up by the inimitable Lydia Hess is hard at work as we speak. Here's a sneak peak at the new logo.

An Iconic American Event

The All American Soap Box Derby has been listed as one of America's most Iconic events in a new book published by National Geographic. The book USA 101 features the Soap Box Derby along side events such as the Indy 500 and Little League World Series. Of course we already knew that, but it's nice the word is getting out to the rest of the world.

Actor writes screenplay about Soap Box Derby

http://www.ohio.com/news/69906852.html

and a slightly different version on the aasbd site:

http://aasbd.com/derbyscriptrelease.htm

Soap Box Derby considering ideas like solar-powered cars, student-designed racers

An interesting article in the Cleveland newspaper worth checking out:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/soap_box_derby_looking_at_new.html

Facebook.

Salem SBD Facebook Fan page now has 28 friends.

Salem Soap Box Derby, Now on Facebook

We have a fan page here.

So if your a Facebook member become a fan.

Back in the Day at Akron

This is a fantastic video clip of the All American Soap Box Derby in Akron in the 30's. Wish we could find any film clips of the Salem races.

Cool video with some of our Californial friends.

Weight Placement

Interesting article on weight placement, here. Seems t confirm conventional wisdom. As with anything, just because you read it on the internet doesn't make it so, so take it with a grain of salt, but the science is interesting.

Isn't it Worth Saving The Soap Box Derby? Found via Twitter

Found this post from Performance Research Blog Here:
http://blog.performanceresearch.com/2009/10/13/isnt-it-worth-saving-the-soap-box-derby/

Here's the text of the post:

We all know that the current economic state has affected the way that companies spend their marketing and sponsorship budgets in regards to major sports properties like NASCAR and the PGA. If we take a deeper look, we can also see how the little guy is being affected by corporate budget cuts. One example is the current situation facing the All American Soap Box Derby. Since 1933, the AASBD has been the governing body of American soap box racers. They govern regional events, culminating with a National Championship in Akron, Ohio each July.

Two years ago the AASBD lost their title sponsor and are now struggling to stay afloat as they will incur a financial loss for the second year in a row. With only a few regional sponsors, and a dwindling budget, the organization hopes that some company will come forward with the $250,000 annual title sponsor charge. While the price may seem relatively small compared to the fees charged by larger organizations, the AASBD is constantly reminded about the lack of marketing funds from potential sponsors for the upcoming year So what is the organization supposed to do?

Well it seems as if the AASBD has a plan. This non-for-profit group is taking a new approach in which their value to potential sponsors is highlighted. Right in step with the green movement amongst Corporate America, the group will focus its sponsor pitch on the fact that their sport uses only gravity during competition. Paul Swangard of the University of Oregon recently remarked in USA Today that the AASBD has “been green longer than Al Gore”, and suggests that an alternative energy company may want to sign on at this price.

The fact that the AASBD is presenting themselves off as a green group may be just the type of sales pitch that they need. This, coupled with their non-for-profit classification puts them in a prime spot for companies wanting to benefit from cause marketing. As we have mentioned on this blog previously, cause marketing in the current economy ensures companies remain relevant through sponsorship, while touching a positive place in the hearts of consumers.

Besides the opportunity of a sponsor capitalizing on soap box racing as a non-profit eco-friendly sport, a corporation could also benefit from sponsoring a sport that is considered as American as apple pie. During this period of economic hardship it seems logical to show some national pride by teaming up with an American tradition.

It will be interesting to see which companies rev up this flailing sport, and by which methods of sponsorship they decide to activate. If a sponsor does partner with the AASBD, a strong plan of action will go a long way in benefiting from the relatively inexpensive cost of the title sponsor slot. As our Vice President Bill Doyle stated this past spring, sponsors should go on a “diet”. If done effectively, a $250,000 sponsorship of this worthwhile organization seems like it could match a sponsorship manager’s appetite perfectly.

This new blog

Welcome to a brand new blog about Soap Box Derby Racing, the Salem Soap Box Derby Association and racing at our beautiful track in Salem's Bush Pasture Park. Check in frequently for new posts.