Did you know anyone who participated?
Years ago this was big stuff if you lived in NE Ohio, or if you were an entrant. The championship is held in Akron. I went once as a kid. Boring for spectators if you don't know anyone in the race. There were 500 participants in 2014. They are eliminated in sets of 3. Takes forever. They now apparently have several divisions.
Some facts:
1. The 1933 (first) race was for boys only, but two girls snuck in anyway. One won second place and revealed her gender when she took off her helmet and her golden locks tumbled out.
2. Poor and fatherless, Joey Lunn from Thomasville, Ga., won the sympathy of the crowd in 1952 when he smashed his car after winning the first heat. As a nurse tended to his scrapes and bruises, volunteers tried to repair his car with tape, strips of tin and a lunch box. He went on to win, even though his car shed parts in each heat leading to his victory.
3. Girls were admitted to the derby in 1971.
4. "It’s a girl!" was the Akron Beacon Journal headline in 1975 when Karren Stead of Morristown, Pa., became the first female derby champion.
5. In the late 1950s, to stop kids from souping up their wheels, the derby began providing identical wheels to each contestant, eliminating a major advantage of hard-core derby enthusiasts.
Years ago this was big stuff if you lived in NE Ohio, or if you were an entrant. The championship is held in Akron. I went once as a kid. Boring for spectators if you don't know anyone in the race. There were 500 participants in 2014. They are eliminated in sets of 3. Takes forever. They now apparently have several divisions.
Some facts:
1. The 1933 (first) race was for boys only, but two girls snuck in anyway. One won second place and revealed her gender when she took off her helmet and her golden locks tumbled out.
2. Poor and fatherless, Joey Lunn from Thomasville, Ga., won the sympathy of the crowd in 1952 when he smashed his car after winning the first heat. As a nurse tended to his scrapes and bruises, volunteers tried to repair his car with tape, strips of tin and a lunch box. He went on to win, even though his car shed parts in each heat leading to his victory.
3. Girls were admitted to the derby in 1971.
4. "It’s a girl!" was the Akron Beacon Journal headline in 1975 when Karren Stead of Morristown, Pa., became the first female derby champion.
5. In the late 1950s, to stop kids from souping up their wheels, the derby began providing identical wheels to each contestant, eliminating a major advantage of hard-core derby enthusiasts.
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