The Draggin' Wagon (1963)

one 2 3 go every summer in Washington DC boys build their own racing cars and enter them in the local soapbox St I entered last year but I didn't win so I decided to build a new car and enter again this year my name is Clarence Carter Jr but my friends call me c [Music] I came into lumber yard I was finding the kind of wood I needed for my floorboard I wanted it not too heavy but heavy enough to carry the car it couldn't be a real expensive type of wood because I only had $20 to spend on the whole car he suggested a piece of [Music] pan he showed me the first piece of wood grain was a little rough I said I to turn it down and hop that I might get a better piece he did show me a better piece of [Music] wood so I got that piece for my [Applause] floorboard friend of man named Gregory Wilson and the he didn't ENT last year but he entered this year he's always heckling me like most boys I love my mother I don't like it when she calls me to do something and I've already started something else but uh she called me for Qui hle so I had to [Music] go I don't sing all that well Mr sha I guess he thinks that I sing well enough to stay in the choir sometimes I get bored at choir rehearsal singing songs and you sing them over and over again every now and then I sneak look at uh the beams in the church and they s of reminded me of the support to my racer because they curve around the top and then come straight down on the sides I had to make sure Mr y wasn't watching he sees all he gets little mad when we don't sing like we're supposed to be singing You ra his voice the yells the Frankl I don't like it I like to get out of the choir rehearsal I had trouble with the steering mechanism I couldn't figure out which way to wind the wire around the steering shell so the car would turn the same way that I turned the wheel you have to figure out this way child and eror method my father he's a chemist and he works up at Howard University he uses that method I thought about working as a chemist when I grow up it seems strange to me how that you can take two things and put them together and come out with something completely different from what you originally had such as a common table Sal you put sodium which can be a very dangerous chemical and chlorine which is a poisonous gas and you put those two together and you come out with regular table salt I like this kind of work when I go into the service I plan to become a paratrooper I've always wondered how it would feel just falling through space actually never even been up in an airplane yet because of my height the brakes have to be made a certain way when I get in I have to have room to stretch my legs time of inspection was drawing closer [Music] I was excited about finishing the car knowing that I designed the car and built it give you some feeling of Pride the year before when I went up for inspection I had trouble various things that were wrong and inspectors checked the car they s me back and I had to make Corrections on it the inspection is held at a high school gymnasium some of those cars had pretty good designs and the competition would be pretty stiff inspector seemed like he was giving him good going over some the cars didn't pass they had to be taken back and worked [Music] on I wondered how tough they would be on me [Music] I didn't know for sure if I was going to [Music] pass well here it [Music] goes that's stearing mechanism I Ain had trouble with it before the S system is seemed to be a little bit loose let that go he wanted me to test up my brakes I maned on the brakes well I finally passed Day Before the Race I decided to go down to the track see how it was laid out was just like it was the day that I raced the year before track see as long this year stand quiet more be filled with people cheering and yelling cars would be at the top of the hill if I won the national race I get $7,500 scholarship any college that I want to go to that would be the one to [Music] win 200 more boys in the race they come from all over Washington nearby Maryland Virginia [Music] the subbox Derby officials keep the cars at coolage high school gymnasium so the cars can't be altered and then they deliver all the cars on a truck when they take your car off you worried about them being careful with your car you don't want them to damage the steering system of the brakes the other boys had some pretty good Races they look like they'd be pretty fast I had to pop up my car so the Wheels wouldn't get flat I got real tense when they started lining up the cars I wasn't in the first race Greg was in the first attorney general Kennedy started the [Music] race they're racing a system of Heat and the winner from each heat of three cars comes back and races again 1 2 [Music] 3 [Music] [Music] 2 I don't know about the other guys but when I get on the ramp I'm no longer nervous cuz I'm too busy concentrating on other things like getting ready to steer my car getting in a good position so I can get speed out of the car when you going down the hill 35 or 40 m an hour the winds blowing in your face hear the people cheering and trying to stay down low in the car and steering straight so you can get maximum speed it's an exciting feel as we got to the bottom of the hill my car I weighed the car on my right and so he edged past me the end of the race I finished in third place my time was 30 seconds and last year's race was about 31 or 32 seconds I did better this year I talked with the guy I raced against he was the one that came in second ladies and Gentlemen The New Washington DC sobx Derby Champion Eric [Music] I wish I could have had the trophy he had better car and he [Applause] won so I congratulate him I wasn't happy about losing but um I have some plans for next year and change in design practice on my driving more Island again next year maybe I'll win h [Music]