It was the same shenanigans for the Soap Box Downhill race. The kids were supposed to build their car but it ended up being a contest for professional mechanics. The Dyess AFB troupe race car had an aluminum frame. Many of the care were professionally painted. They were works of art. It wasn’t for the kids. It was for the parents.
Mountain Man camps with Black Powder shooting Competitions here in Southern Commyfornia we had the same Couple win 1st and 2nd prize for years.
They would pick the people that they would shoot with and pay them off. Each group kept score for each other
Some of those Competitions would have $2000 to $3000 rifles and an lot of donated prizes from members of the clubs
It got so bad with these 2 that no one would buy into the Competition when these 2 would show up.
The prize money dwindled to almost nothing.
