SAN DIEGO -- Soap box racing is not just for kids anymore.
Five friends and co-workers who call themselves team "Give 'Em Hell-ado" are proving that by building a unique soap box race car.
“It's a palatero Cart,” said Mingo Palacio. “If you spend any time in San Diego proper, you know these guys are a mascot for us. It's like the ice cream man.
“Everybody knows when the palatero man cruises around, he brings the party to the street and everybody comes running out because they want to get something good to eat.”
One of the team members, Louis Ontiveros, works in a car customizing shop in Barrio Logan and that’s where the team built the car to compete in the Red Bull Soap Box race on Saturday in Los Angeles.
The race goes through downtown L.A. over a 1,500- foot track, with a hair-pin turn and two jumps. The cars have reached speeds close to 45 miles per hour.
“Give ‘Em Hell-ado” uses a hill in an alley next to the shop to practice. Jon Allen, who stands 6-feet tall, folds himself up to sit inside the palatero cart to drive.
“It hurts a little bit when we go over the jumps,” Allen said. “It hurts because I hit the top, then I hit the bottom. But I just keep going.”
Four structural engineering students from UC San Diego have also entered the race, building a house on wheels to reflect the Disney Pixar Film “Up”.
“I’m going to dress up like the old man,” said Team “Up’n’Down” captain Michael Duby. “One of the other guys will dress as the dog and another guy as the bird. So we’ll have a bird and a dog pushing with two of us inside.”
Besides speed, the 34 teams in the race will get judged on creativity, and showmanship. The winning team earns a NASCAR experience that includes V.I.P. treatment to an upcoming race and a chance to meet drivers Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne.
The soap box cars cannot exceed 176 pounds, 12 feet in length, six feet in width and eight feet in height. The “Up” house nearly exceeds all of those, yet Duby insists it has speed.
“We want to win it,” Duby said.
Regardless of how the San Diego teams do, you have to give them high marks for bravery.
“When I'm in here, I want to go faster,” the 30 year-old Allen said. “We haven't gone fast enough for me to be freaked out.”
I guess you're never too old to race a soap box.
Five friends and co-workers who call themselves team "Give 'Em Hell-ado" are proving that by building a unique soap box race car.
“It's a palatero Cart,” said Mingo Palacio. “If you spend any time in San Diego proper, you know these guys are a mascot for us. It's like the ice cream man.
“Everybody knows when the palatero man cruises around, he brings the party to the street and everybody comes running out because they want to get something good to eat.”
One of the team members, Louis Ontiveros, works in a car customizing shop in Barrio Logan and that’s where the team built the car to compete in the Red Bull Soap Box race on Saturday in Los Angeles.
The race goes through downtown L.A. over a 1,500- foot track, with a hair-pin turn and two jumps. The cars have reached speeds close to 45 miles per hour.
“Give ‘Em Hell-ado” uses a hill in an alley next to the shop to practice. Jon Allen, who stands 6-feet tall, folds himself up to sit inside the palatero cart to drive.
“It hurts a little bit when we go over the jumps,” Allen said. “It hurts because I hit the top, then I hit the bottom. But I just keep going.”
Four structural engineering students from UC San Diego have also entered the race, building a house on wheels to reflect the Disney Pixar Film “Up”.
“I’m going to dress up like the old man,” said Team “Up’n’Down” captain Michael Duby. “One of the other guys will dress as the dog and another guy as the bird. So we’ll have a bird and a dog pushing with two of us inside.”
Besides speed, the 34 teams in the race will get judged on creativity, and showmanship. The winning team earns a NASCAR experience that includes V.I.P. treatment to an upcoming race and a chance to meet drivers Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne.
The soap box cars cannot exceed 176 pounds, 12 feet in length, six feet in width and eight feet in height. The “Up” house nearly exceeds all of those, yet Duby insists it has speed.
“We want to win it,” Duby said.
Regardless of how the San Diego teams do, you have to give them high marks for bravery.
“When I'm in here, I want to go faster,” the 30 year-old Allen said. “We haven't gone fast enough for me to be freaked out.”
I guess you're never too old to race a soap box.
