A few weeks ago, after the LoCO posted this roundup of Justin Brown’s legal challenge to the organizers of this year’s Kinetic Grand Championship, we received the following anonymous e-mail, which turned out to be prophetic. The e-mail was sent on May 12 – more than two weeks before the start of this year’s race and the immediate controversy over the ages of the pilots on the Tigers and Amazons entry.

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Dear Hank,

Glad to see the direct interviews of Monica Topping and Justin Hobart Brown in yesterday’s blog, as well as the legal overviews. I’m in the race this year. I am neither a member of Kinetic Universe, though I’ve met some Rutabaga Queens socially, nor an associate of Justin Hobart Brown, though I’ve met him socially and valued his father as a friend.

I’d wondered why the licensing contract hadn’t been renewed. Now that I understand that control of the race rules is an element of the declined replacement contract, I feel an “aha moment” coming on. In recent months, as various teams prepare their vehicles for the race, I’ve heard of disgruntlement on the part of Justin Hobart Brown because the Kinetic Universe organizers of this year’s race have declined to change their age requirement of 18 and up for kinetic racers.

I have heard that Justin Hobart Brown persistently but unsuccessfully pressured Kinetic Universe to allow a friend’s 14-year-old child to participate as a racer. And… that Justin intends for his own 10-year-old child, grandchild of the Glorious Founder, to be allowed as a racer in this 42-mile thrills-and-spills all-terrain slog. This might be a factor in the event organizers’ intent to have “age checks” at the starting line… to prevent the hazard and liability of having an underage racer come to harm while participating. It might also be a factor in Brown’s talking up the “make it family friendly again” theme.

Just my two bits, and from the sidelines I have no way of telling where this balances out. I would appreciate having Kinetic Universe and Justin Hobart Brown state their views on child participation and age requirements in the glorious Race.

Sincerely,

Real Gal

Yesterday, “Real Gal” sent the following update, for what it’s worth:

Been watching the Brown/Krause contingent work up crowd sympathy for the “poor little schoolgirls”… one of whom submitted False ID with wrong age (16 rather than 14)… they were also printing original Hobart’s rules, allowing much younger racers, from the freewheeling days when liability and insurance were unaddressed issues.

I admire the race organizers for maintaining a game face, obeying Rules #1 and #10 by having a good time, while taking the heat for being cast as big meanies.   I would not wish to be in their shoes as the T&A contingent force matters at Crab Park this evening. Talk about damned if they do, damned if they don’t… either they successfully repel unauthorized boarders and get cast as even bigger meanies, or the interlopers slip/barge in and claim credit for “seizing the race”, a term I’m hearing more and more lately.

Ever hear the backstory on how the Rutabaga Queens came to run the race? As noted by Justin Brown in his KHUM interview during the preliminary kinetic kerfuffle, Hobart sat on his couch with the Queens and “gave them the race to run”. That was because there was NOBODY willing to touch race management with a ten-foot pole… seeing as Hobart was engaged in legal wrangling with the previous non-profit race organizers, and other individuals who had presumed themselves to be his friends.

Enter a handful of young Rutabaga Queens in their 30’s, who loved Hobart, loved the race, and decided, collectively, that being young and broke… they had nothing to lose if they ended up being sued! With Hobart’s blessings, they picked up the burden and, remarkably, flew under the radar, not taking sides, just slaved to create a non-profit, scramble for permits, insurance, sponsors and volunteers… all within a 2-month window. I am impressed with what they’ve accomplished since 2007, not just the solidify and enhance the race, but also to transform the reputation of Rutabaga Queens from 24/7, frivolous party gals, to hard-working and dedicated advocates of the race. Many Rutabaga Queens are active pilots and volunteers.

Okay. So I have a bias, but it’s based on what I’ve seen and heard the Queens accomplish. My only comment on JHB is that when Hobart was looking for responsible successors to manage the race in 2007, his son was apparently not deemed up to assuming said responsibilities. I would feel more positively about JHB if I’d seen him more actively volunteering his energies, rather than sulking and creating controversies. Some family and kinetic traditions, perhaps we could do without…

For the Glory -

Real Gal