David Fulton
7126 Halden Place
April 28, 2010
New Indianapolis Soap Box Derby
Chairperson
Melissa Hutchison resigned as the
Indianapolis Soap Box Derby Chairperson
after our race last Sunday. She stated
family reasons for her decision. An election
was held and David Fulton was elected as
Chairperson. Melissa has told me she will
remain on the board and help us.
From the new Chairperson, David Fulton
I have been in SBD since 1978 and have
always been supportive of the Indianapolis
SBD in some way. I have served as
Chairperson previously and other positions
as needed. I know how demanding this job
can be and understand Melissa’s decision to
spend more time with her family. I
commend her for her difficult decision.
I became a board member to give back to an
organization that gives so much to the
community. I also want to make sure that
everyone is treated fair and has a chance to
win. I believe in keeping everyone informed
of what is going on in the organization and
the rules regarding the construction of your
car, inspection, and the running of the race.
I wrote a book to help new and experienced
SBD families become more competitive
called, “Winning Ingredients” and this book
does just that. If any Indianapolis SBD
family would like a copy I will let you have it
for $20, normally it sells for $30.00 on my
web site www.winningingredients.com.
Indianapolis, In
46214
New Return Vehicles
Tom Wood Toyota has agreed to supply the
Indianapolis Soap Box Derby with two
trucks to return the cars and drivers to the
top of the hill during our races this year.
They have also committed to the use of a
truck to take our winning cars to Akron.
Tom Wood Toyota has also promised
support for the top three trophies for the
remaining races this year, and supply Toyota
stickers for our All-America and Mayor’s Cup
races. Tom Wood Toyota is having a 4 X 30
Banner made, advertising Tom Wood Toyota,
and it will be attached to the bridge during
our races. Mr. Mark Holthouser, the Tom
Wood Toyota Truck Fleet Manager, is
managing this project with the help of Ken
Gregory. Stop by, say thanks, and purchase
a truck!
Progressive Wheel Swap!
The progressive wheel swap is not liked by
most of the board members and our racing
families. The board talked about this early
in the fall and I even wrote a paper on the
ways people gain an unfair advantage with
wheels. (If anyone would like a copy, let me
know) The board came to a conclusion that
it was best for our racers if we continued the
progressive wheel swap, keeping those
people doing wheel games off guard.
However, since there is so much dislike for
the progressive wheel swap, we will be
discussing this at the next meeting with an
eye toward making it more palatable for our
families and rally racers, while keeping it
fair.
Wheel Bank
We are trying to develop a wheel bank here
at Indy so we can have house wheels to race
on for our final heats in the Mayor’s Cup
and All-American Local. I already have two
and ¾ sets. I say that because I have one
set that only has three wheels. I need about
six more sets to make it work. If you have a
set of wheels you could donate to the Indy
SBD please let me know. Thanks to Bob
Snoddy who gave me two sets and donated
$100.00 to purchase another set. Thanks
Bob. Bob is an old friend and SBD
enthusiast.
Announcers
Often we have our Bridge Score Keeper
announcing the race at the same time they
are keeping score. We need someone, or
more then someone that would like to
announce the races for us. They do not
have to announce every race this season,
but if you have a friend or relative that
would like to announce please let me know.
And, if you know a derby knowledgeable
person that is willing to announce, that’s
even better!
Race Etiquette
When we raced in the National Derby Rally,
they had specific rules that they enforced to
keep it fair for everyone. These days I see
that we have a lot of new people, and the AllAmerican does not give us any leadership in
this area. However, if we follow these rules
it is less likely someone will be doing
something unfair.
1. The basis of the rules are for the driver,
car handler, and the car to be with the
driver, car handler, and the car you are
racing.
2. You keep an eye on each other. When
you go across the scales, you confirm the
weight of your opponent is correct and
they will confirm that your weight is
correct. (This pertains to a weight
challenge.)
3. You trade two wheels and then no one is
to touch the wheels until all four are
swapped at the top of the hill before the
second phase of that heat.
4. Second phase cars go to the front of
the line after wheels are swapped. This
is because the lanes can change. You
may have shade on lane 1 if you wait too
long. This could be a disadvantage to the
person in lane 1 the second phase.
5. Second phase cars should be picked up
by the return vehicle first and taken back
to the top of the hill as soon as possible
for the same reason as above.
6. Wheels are important and both cars
should be in the sun or in the shade.
The heat of the rubber on the wheels
affects the speed of your car. The driver
and car handler should be aware of this.
I do not suspect any inappropriate conduct
by any racer, this is just rules the NDR came
up with to prevent any inappropriate
conduct by having each team watch the
other..
The NDR did not want anyone to touch their
own or opponents wheels except for
swapping the wheels. They did not allow
anyone to clean their wheels on the starting
gate. I shall ask the board to address this;
at our last race, we announced not to wipe
your wheels on the ramp, however several
still did. When we do not have someone
policing a rule, you must police each other.
Everyone forgets, but if reminded enough we
will get it.
Wheel Placement and Marking
Another rule the NDR and the AA have came
up with is that every one’s wheels must be
marked as to the direction of rotation and
with the position of the wheel. In other
words, you will have a LF marked on a wheel
with an arrow pointing the direction of
rotation, a RF marked on a wheel with an
arrow pointing the direction of rotation and
the same for the RR, and LR wheel positions.
The markings must be on the outside of the
wheel when it is installed on the car.
In the event you forget to mark your wheel,
you will be able to purchase wheel sticker
from us for $1.
Wheel Game Concerns
Three Wheeling
The main wheel game concern is Three
Wheeling. It’s called this because only three
of the wheels are supporting most of the
weight of the car. The wheel that isn’t
carrying much weight has a bad bearing.
When the bad bearing wheel is on the
opponent’s car it will make him so slow that
he will lose. However, this can be caught by
checking the car on the scales. You will
notice that two of the diagonal wheels (like
left front and right rear, or left rear and right
front) will be carrying most of the load with
two other diagonal wheels will be carrying
less of a load. One of the two carrying the
lesser load will be a lot less.
An example on a Stock car which max
weight is 200 pounds, it would go something
like this. Let’s say the right rear wheel has
the bad bearing in it. Then you would have
the right rear wheel weighing a lot less then
50 #. You could expect to see the right rear
weighing about 30# or less. The left rear
and right front would be somewhat more
then 50#.
You can challenge to weigh your car and
your opponent’s car before you race or after
you race. If you choose after the race, it will
not slow down the race and if there is a
problem, you can call an official to check the
weight.
New Concrete Ramps
As you know by now, we have new Concrete
ramps that take no time to put up, ha.
However, it may take some time to figure out
how to place your car on them to have the
best advantage. At our last race Sam
Fehrman found that if you run straight off
the ramp in lane 2 your left wheel would be
forward of a low spot in the concrete and
make him faster by over .100 of a second.
Not only was there a low spot, but the left
wheel in lane 2 had to then go up hill which
drastically slowed you down at the start.
I contacted the concrete man to correct this
low spot and grind down the elevated
concrete forward of where the left wheels is
placed in lane 2. He repaired the concrete
Monday morning and I think you will find no
low spot and the left wheel path is not going
up any more.
One of our concerns that remain is the
cross-bind on these ramps. Although we
instructed the concrete installers that we
wanted level ramps, they did not turn out
that way. The cross-bind is said to be
somewhere between 1/8” and ¼”. That
means that with you car adjusted to “0”
cross bind, when you set down the back
wheels of your car, one wheel will contact
the concrete and the other wheel will be
about ¼” off the ground. This could be
enough cross bind in the ramp that you
might want to change your king pin or king
pins to a different torque.
This past race in April we had a lot of people
helping us and each other. We appreciate it
very much. The board works hard to put on
a fair and pleasurable race and we are
grateful when we get extra help from the
racers and their families. I wish to think the
board and everyone who was racing and
went that extra mile to give us help.
David Fulton
317-247-8742