The Fremont soapbox derby was run in Fremont style, starting out in a park with people’s choice voting. The voters were pandered to by displays of acting, handing out bribes, stand-up comedy, allowing you to throw mud at them, or whatever seemed to work to gather one’s favor. Every team had a theme, ranging from Mad Max fashion to hillbilly deluxe, with local flavor thrown in throughout. Then the actual derby began… usually started with a 30 second choreographed corn ball dance routine to impress the celebrity judges, pushed down the ramp, around the steep embanked curve, and down the long Fremont Avenue hill steering back and forth through hay bales. Winners were determined by a combination of audience voting, celebrity judge voting, time through the course, and probably a bit of random wind direction.
Team Saget provided you with mud and a guy to throw the mud at
The Mellow Tubmarine brought peace symbols and devil duckies
The Fremont Troll was a locals’ favorite of course… the driver climbed in through its butt and looked out through the mouth
Team Spicoli ate lots of pizza, dude
Team War Child was all about Mad Max style guys in leather and babe savages
The bowl of caviar races into the banked 90 degree turn before heading down Fremont Avenue
And sometimes the wobbly contraptions and wobblier drivers did an oops, but still had fun