Soap Box Derby racing has come a long way since its inception in 1933, when "kids brought cars with chassis made of fruit crates and scrap wood propped up on wheels pilfered from baby buggies and roller skates," in the words of Smithsonian Magazine.

Today, cars such as these "Masters Division" racers are sold as fiberglass kits. Masters Division cars are for drivers 10 to 20 years old and can accommodate racers up to 6 feet tall who weigh up to 160 pounds.

This panning shot, captured at a Soap Box Derby event this month in Barrington, Illinois, has been processed for Sliders Sunday.

HSS

Tags:   Barrington HSS Illinois Masters Masters Division Nikkor 18-300mm Sliders Sunday Soap Box Derby cars colorful fiberglass flags helmets panning racing red white and blue

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Soap Box Derby racers move down a track set up in up in a former Sam's Club store in Barrington, Illinois. Cars are entirely gravity powered, and launch down a ramp to start the race.

The races this weekend were part of a series of youth-oriented Soap Box Derby competition events that will culminate in July, when local winners from across the U.S., Canada, Germany and Japan will travel to Akron, Ohio, to compete in the "All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship." It will mark the 86th running of the All-American, since its inception in Dayton, Ohio, in 1934.

Tags:   Barrington Illinois OM 12-40mm f2.8 Soap Box Derby blur bokeh boys cars kids motion motion blur panning pillars pylons racers racing reflections

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This week's Smile On Saturday theme is "Blurred & Beautiful," in which the charge was to "take a totally blurry picture that still conveys something."

This shot is from the Mundelein (Illinois) leg of the 2023 Intelligentsia Cup last summer, a series of 10 bicycle races in 10 days, with each of the races held in a different Chicago suburb or community.

HSoS

Tags:   Blurred & Beautiful HSoS Illinois Intelligentsia Cup Mundelein Nikkor 18-300mm Smile On Saturday bicycle racing bicycles bikes people races racing

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It's a handheld shot at 1/6 sec of two vehicles passing on a highway, for this week's Crazy Tuesday theme: "Something in Motion." What I can't figure out is why the vehicles themselves show motion blur, but the chrome on the wheels shows up as patterns instead of blur. I took several shots of different vehicles and they all came out the same way.

The only thing I can postulate is that maybe the autofocus function on the camera tried repeatedly to focus on the wheels as they turned(?). In any case, I sort of like the look; it gives the image a kind of sci fi or futuristic vibe for me.

HCT

Tags:   Crazy Tuesday HCT Illinois OM-1 12-40mm f2.8 Something In Motion White Birch Lakes arrows automobiles brush bushes cars highways motion blur poles power lines road signs vehicles

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Fun on sled hill

Tags:   Crystal Lake Illinois M.Zuiko 100-400mm f/5-6.3 boots fun motion blur panning people sled sled hill sledding sliding snow winter

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