Saturday, July 21, 2018

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY- JULY 21/22

Soap Box Scandal

Forty-five years ago at the Soap Box Derby, 14-year-old Jimmy Gronen, of Boulder, Colorado, was stripped of his title two days after winning the national race. An x-ray examination of his car  revealed an electromagnet in the nose. When activated at the starting line, the magnet pulled the car forward by attracting it to the steel paddle used to start the race. The boy's uncle and legal guardian at the time, wealthy engineer Robert Lange, was indicted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

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