Overview
- The Red Bull Soapbox Race returned to downtown Los Angeles with dozens of handmade carts tackling a custom downhill course from Grand Avenue to Broadway along 1st Street.
- Teams of up to five members performed short skits before each run and judges scored entries on creativity, showmanship, and speed under rules that require brakes, steering, and no engines.
- Hundreds of spectators lined the route as drivers navigated turns, jumps, and set obstacles that turned each descent into a public show.
- The spectacle leaned into L.A. culture with food and movie motifs, including carts styled as hot dog stands and nods to films like E.T. and Dune.
- Local makers and student engineers, including UCLA Bruin Racing and Cerritos College’s Los Ingenieros, used the event to demonstrate hands-on design skills, while on-course mishaps like a lost wheel or a stalled boat underscored the risks of gravity-only racing.