July 4th 1962


We had not had a Soapbox Derby race in Columbus, GA since 1955, and when we did have one in late June of 1962, a Guest Racer in a modern car from Atlanta walked off with the money. It was a cake walk for him because we were more than seven years behind, and that is a life time in the Soapbox Derby.

After the race, our local winner told me that I should attend a race in Smyrna GA, that would be held later on July 4th, and check out the cars there.

The morning of July 4th, a friend of mine, who was a chemist at a soft drink company in Columbus, and I loaded up in my new Renault (40 Miles per gallon) and set out for Smyrna.It took us $2 to go there and back, a round trip of about 280 miles.

It was a typical hot and muggy July day in Georgia, and maybe a few degrees hotter than most days, due to it being the Fourth, and a Soapbox Derby race going on.

The race was held on a hill on a road in the outskirts of the small town of Smyrna, just North of Atlanta. The pit area was at the top of the hill, bordered by red clay banks, and the location of the road where it was held was not hard to find.

When we walked up to the pit area, there must have been at least forty to fifty cars. Back then they were separated in two divisions according to age groups. The 13 -15 year olds were in the popular "A" Class, and 11-12 year olds in the hot "B" Class. The winner of each class would run each other for the Championship.

It was a strange scene to my eyes. Nobody was spinning their wheels like we had always done. They were allowed to use their own wheels back then, and all the "Hot Dogs" were sitting on stands close to the ground, with their wheels slowly revolving. Under each wheel there were pieces of tin foil laying on the ground. Hmmm!

I could see why out Guest Racer had retreated to the Columbus race, because this race was full of rockets, and there were very few "Boy Built" racers here.

The Atlanta race had been dominated for years by four men.

Howard Webb, who owned a metal fabricating business in East Point, GA, a suburb in South Atlanta, had been to every All-American since 1934. He had Eight daughters. Girls couldn't race back then and evidently he wanted a winner at his house. He was known as a "Wheel Man," and it is said that he concentrated on bearings, and was successful with them until rubber treatment came along. Of course he developed a method to treat his wheels after that.

Archie Hamilton owned a store that sold Go Carts in Decatur, and he and his brother Robert, who were said to be behind Joe Lunn's 1952 All-American Championship car, were always in the races. They were mentioned in the use of `47 wheels to win races. I am not sure what they knew about treating wheels.

Hubert Puckett, an engineer for an Atlanta steel building company, who was behind the current Columbus winner that year, had a little rocket in this race with get this ... Archie Hamilton's tall 15 yr old son, in a last year effort to get him a win before his eligibility expired, but he had out grown the car during the construction, and stuck up out of it. This car really impressed me because It had a good shape, like a cigar, and was made of hickory. It even had trap doors over the brake opening underneath the car.

Puckett was the man that discovered the use of chemicals on his wheels, and he learned this by observing Richard Rohr of Rochester NY, at the 1955 All-American. The next year, 1956, he had cars that finished second and seventh at the All-American to Rochester, who won again.

Hugh Flurry was a fireman in Dekalb County, which is a suburb of Atlanta. His driver was a tall redheaded boy who may have been his oldest son, and I can remember that he had his T-shirt sleeves and the cuffs of his jeans taped down with silver duct tape. He was serious, and I am sure he was knowledgeable about treating wheels.

As the race began, the early races had very little excitement as usual, with the exception of some of the inexperienced younger drivers zigging and zagging as they swerved down the hill. There were no bad wrecks, all Soapbox Derby wrecks are bad, and they all made it down the hill with no crack ups. The thing back then was to drive a straight as possible. Put no strain on those bearings.

Then the second round started with the bad boys paired against each other. Webb's car went down to Flurry's car. Puckett moved into the next round, and then lost a close one to Flurry. Flurry was hot. Where did he get those wheels?

It was rumored that he had the 1947 Gold Wheels, that were a *special edition, and he had painted them the red color of the current wheels Of course Flurry went on to win the race, and the trip to Akron. I am not sure of his results at Akron, but the next year ... 1963, his son Norman placed third at the All-American.

*The Gold wheels were made in 1947 to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Soapbox Derby, and were the only year that they had been painted any color other than red. The rubber compound on these wheels was a natural rubber, and had more resiliencey than in other years. The Derby started in 1934, but had been discontinued during the war, from 1942 to 1946.

Webb, Flurry and Hamilton are dead now, and Puckett has moved to South Florida, but he is still in the wheel business, winning the Ultimate Division at Akron in 2007, which is a division of the Derby for grown folks where they run their own wheels.

After the race, my buddy and I loaded up and headed to the Varsity Restaurant, an Atlanta institution on North Avenue downtown near Georgia Tech. They sell thousands of hot dogs every day, and the food is always fresh. It is said that this is the only stop the bread man has on his route all day. He is kept busy replenishing the buns at the Varsity.

The french fries and onion rings are awesome. The onion rings are made from the famous Vidalia onions, and they are the best that I have ever eaten ... anywhere. If you are ever in Atlanta, a stop at the Varsity is mandatory.

I got an education on the importance of wheels that day, and I came back to Columbus to start pursuing the knowledge to treat wheels.

I didn't say anything about it to anybody, but I went to the Columbus paper's files and obtained the name of every kid that raced in the 1947 local race. It was surprising, but the majority of them were listed in our local phone book. I called each one, and asked if they still had their wheels. No luck.

The wildest thing ... my buddy that went to the race with me, told me when he found out later what I was doing, that he thought that there was still a set of the wheels that he raced on in 1947, still in his daddy's barn. He said that they bought a new set that year. We went out to his dad's barn, and when he opened the old trunk, there they were ... The most beautiful Soapbox Derby wheels that I had ever seen. *Sparkling* GOLD.

I got sooo weak, and my breathing got short. I was trembling, but I immediately purchased the wheels from him, and later painted them red. I couldn't believe that all this time, they were right there under my nose.

I did run them in the 1963 Columbus race, but lost to treated wheels on a very good car that went on to place second at the All American. Back to the drawing board ... or chemistry class.

"Keep on Coasting"







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient