The First Soap Box Derby Timer

I will be writning about the timers used at local tracks soon, but here is the history of timers used in Soap Box Derby.

Akron Timer Used Now

The Origin of the Timer Swap

In 1976, in the small village of Elk Grove, about 24 miles south of Sacramento, California, Earle Blair started working on a timer system to determine the distance between two Soapbox Derby Racers at the finish line, and eliminate the difference between lanes and wheels.

The NDR Nationals, and some local rally's before this, had been using a photo to show the difference between the two racers in the first phase of a race. Then they would swap wheels and lanes, and run again in a second phase.

One car might win in lane one by 10 inches, and lose to the other car in lane two by 20 inches. So that would mean that the other car was 10 inches faster. Now if it was just a 2 inch difference, that brought on more talk, and it was a little tougher to determine. Not sophisticated, but satisfactory, and better than the old method of heads up racing, which involved a lot of luck.

Earle had given it a lot of thought, and he wanted a timing system that would accomplish this by giving the differences in thousands of seconds, as each racer crossed the finish line, instead of having to depend on photos.

Dick Lesquer, who was working with Earle, as a mechanic on the machinery in the chemical plant at Proctor & Gamble, near Elk Grove, had completed an electronics course. So this was Earle's man, and he got Dick involved in the project.

First Soap Box Derby Timer

Dick decided that the transmitter that Proctor & Gamble used with infrared beams to count the cases of their products as they came off the conveyor belt, might be incorporated into a timing system for the Derby.

So Dick determined that if he used a unit with relays and switches, and some of these infrared beams, he could make a system that would time the difference between the racers as they broke the beams at the finish line. They didn't have solid state to work with, but Dick built a system using twelve mechanical relays in a 12" x 12" box, that would give a read out of the times on a small screen.

Working with Earle, they found that during the first run between two racers, they could time the difference between the two cars. After the two cars run, they swapped lanes and all four wheels. This left the wheels in the same lanes that they had just been run in. The only difference was that the cars had swapped lanes. This took the difference out of the wheels ... and the lanes.

Red Car runs in lane one, with wheels A. Blue car runs in lane two, with wheels B.

They time the difference between the cars.

Red car wins in lane one by .008 Or 4 inches.

Swap lanes with cars.

BUT ...

Wheels A stays in lane one. Wheels B stays in lane two.

Blue car runs in lane one with wheels A. Red car runs in lane two with wheels B.

Blue car wins in lane one by .010 Or 5 inches.

Blue car is .002 , or one inch faster than Red car.

* These times are examples in thousands, but in actuality, the first timing system was quoted in Hundredths.

As simple as that.

Earle and Dick run the races in Elk Grove in 1976, and 1977 with this system, and everyone was satisfied that they sent the fastest car and driver in Elk Grove, to Akron. They have eliminated the difference in the lanes and wheels, as much as humanly possible.

In 1978, they bought the timing system to the Second NDR National Championships, which were held that year in a beautiful park setting in Columbus, Ohio. This was early in the week before The All American, which was held the following Saturday, right up the road in Akron, Ohio.

The NDR Officials were skeptical, and continued to determine their winners by judging the distance between cars with photos. They called this Photo Swap.

NDR allowed Dick to set the timer up, and also unofficially call each winner. All day the timer click clicked! as each car crossed the finish line, and each time it told how much each lane won by. Each time the call was the same as what the photo showed.

Thus the Timer Swap was born. Now NDR, and most local races use this system.

A tip of the hat to Earle Blair for this contribution to the Soapbox Derby, and Rally Racing as we know it today. Earle has helped a lot of people, and made a remarkable imprint on the Derby, but this may be his most far reaching legacy.

Also thank you to Dick Lesquer, who worked hard to develop Earle's idea. He was in his late sixties when he passed away in 2008.

These guys have my nomination for the ........

All American Soapbox Derby Hall of Fame.

"Keep on Coasting"

Story Courtesy of T HENRY and ZERO ERROR