{"id":319242,"date":"2026-05-16T20:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/319242\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T20:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:24:24","slug":"long-beach-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/319242\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Pride"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 30 teams will take their handmade cars through a custom downhill course of twisty turns and obstacles Saturday as the Red Bull Soapbox Race<\/a> returns to Los Angeles for the first time in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

Teams from across the country were selected from hundreds of applicants to compete on creativity, design, showmanship, course navigation and time.<\/p>\n

There are no engines allowed in this race \u2014 all soapboxes must be gravity-powered.<\/p>\n

Fully-functioning brakes and steering are required, but almost every other aspect of the engineering and design is left up to the competitors\u2019 imaginations. According to Red Bull, the soapbox should be an extension of its team, the wilder and more outrageous the better.<\/p>\n

From real racers to a car made out of bicycle parts<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Contestants take on the course at the Red Bull Soapbox Race in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2025.<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Long Nguyen<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Courtesy Red Bull<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

The race includes competitors from across Southern California and beyond.<\/p>\n

UCLA Bruin Racing<\/a>, made up of the school\u2019s Formula SAE Squad<\/a> (which also design and race specialized cars), entered with its \u201cMk. 9 racer\u201d soapbox that was originally an out of commission EV car.<\/p>\n

Metro LA<\/a> repurposed parts from some of the unclaimed bikes left behind on the transit system<\/a> for its \u201ccarrot-colored\u201d bus design (and yes, that is the agency\u2019s nod to Tyler, the Creator\u2019s song “Rah Tah Tah.” IYKYK).<\/p>\n

The Seagrave 13<\/a> team from Las Vegas is dedicating their soapbox to Pasadena first responders who battled last year\u2019s Eaton Fire<\/a>. They\u2019re planning to donate the car to the L.A. County Fire Museum<\/a> after the race.<\/p>\n

Built on a patio<\/p>\n

One of the homegrown teams trying their luck this year is made up of a group of renters and friends in Santa Monica and Victorville who built their \u201cRunaway Hotdog Stand\u201d soapbox on an apartment patio.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we’re able to do this shows that I mean anybody could do this, and honestly could do anything else,\u201d Carlos Monson, captain of the Speedy Wiener<\/a> team, told LAist.<\/p>\n

The Speedy Wiener team drew their design inspiration from L.A.\u2019s iconic hot dog carts, typically a small grill that serves bacon and veggie toppings outside concerts, sporting events and tourist attractions.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

The Speedy Wiener team modeled their soapbox after L.A.’s iconic hotdog carts.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, luckily, a majority of them are Latino and we’re like, you know what, this is actually a perfect opportunity because the whole team is Latino,\u201d said Monson, who will also be driving the soapbox.<\/p>\n

The group of friends, between 18 and 21 years of age, built most of their cherry-red car on Monson\u2019s apartment patio under Victorville\u2019s glaring sun.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The Speedy Wiener repurposed the base of an old, rickety go-kart frame for their “Runaway Hotdog Stand” soapbox.<\/p>\n

They repurposed the base using an old, rickety go-kart frame that Monson said took about an hour just to carry up the stairs and get through the front door.<\/p>\n

They worked on the soapbox in between classes and shifts at work. The final touches include stamping their Speedy Wiener logo and adding a mock-menu to the frame. There\u2019s also ketchup and mustard bottles with yellow and red streamers hanging from the nozzles and a rainbow umbrella over the wheel.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The team, made up of renters between 18 and 21 years old, built most of the soapbox on their captain’s apartment patio in Victorville.<\/p>\n

For the car\u2019s structure, Monson turned to a collection of cardboard boxes he had lying around after a recent move and attached the various pieces with zip ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ll be able to hopefully last when they make it down the race track,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Engineering students\u2019 big break<\/p>\n

Another entrant on Saturday is the Los Ingenieros<\/a>, a group of mechanical engineering students from Cerritos College in Norwalk, who has taken inspiration from the team\u2019s Hispanic heritage and Los Angeles culture.<\/p>\n

Their car is lucha libre-themed with rails modeled after a wrestling ring and the driver donning a muscle suit and mask.<\/p>\n

The red, white and green colors represent the Mexican flag and features Chicano-style pinstriping from L.A.\u2019s lowriders, as well as some Aztec patterns.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Los Ingenieros team is made up of a group of mechanical engineering students from Cerritos College.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s definitely going to be a powerful testimony to our culture,\u201d said Ruben Orozco, a Los Ingenieros member from La Mirada.<\/p>\n

The team never expected to be picked for the race, and Orozco said the invitation has been \u201cmind-blowing\u201d and \u201csurreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arelie Marquez, another member from Long Beach, told LAist she sketched the design for the modified go-kart frame before the team chopped the wheels, boosted the back axle and added suspension. While some of the students drew up blueprints on engineering computer software, Marquez used her welding experience to help mount the brackets \u2014 all in Orozco\u2019s backyard.<\/p>\n

As a community college student, Orozco said he\u2019s felt like he\u2019s missed out on opportunities to showcase their knowledge and innovations compared to students in the Cal State or UC system, but the Red Bull Soapbox Race has helped shed that notion.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only has it been reassuring to myself, but also we’ve used it as a platform to kind of show others in STEM, in community colleges, that you could do crazy things as a student,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And yes, the team is already highlighting the unique engineering experience on their resumes, according to Gabriel Ramirez, a Compton resident and another member along with his twin brother, Hector.<\/p>\n

Their next challenge? Cramming for finals next week.<\/p>\n

How to watch this weekend<\/p>\n

The Red Bull Soapbox Race in downtown L.A. is free and open to the public:<\/p>\n

Where: 200 N Grand Avenue, Los Angeles (event map here<\/a>)
Red Bull recommends taking rideshare or public transit to the event. Metro\u2019s Civic Center\/Grand Park stop is less than a minute walk away.When: Gates open at 11 a.m.
Spectators are invited to stop by \u201cPit Row\u201d on Grand Avenue to check out the designs and cast votes for the \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice\u201d award<\/a> before the cars take on the race.
Opening ceremony will start around 12 p.m.
Famed racing driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a guest host, and Maddie Mastro, a three-time Olympian snowboarder, is one of the judges.Racing will start around 12:15 p.m.
Spectators can watch on either side of the 1st Street course, at the finish line, or in front of City Hall from the jumbotron viewing screen.Livestream: You can watch the race on the Red Bull channel on Amazon Prime Video, Roku streaming devices and Vizio smart TVs at 12 p.m. Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 30 teams will take their handmade cars through a custom downhill course of twisty turns and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-319242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}