History Recap / TheSimpsonsS3E9SaturdaysOfThunder

* WeaponizedCar: Nelson's car has ''Film/BenHur''-style SpikedWheels that he uses to try to stop Bart at the climax.

* WholePlotReference: The entire thing is a callout to an old Bill Cosby routine about soapbox derby racing.
* WrongfullyAttributed: For those more familiar with ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsRoadRage'' and ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'', then you'll be surprised to learn that Bart's signature vehicle in both games, the Honor Roller, is actually made for (and by) ''Martin''. Initially, Bart ''is racing against Martin in a completely different vehicle'', he only starts using it when Martin gets injured, and even then, he uses it on Martin's behalf.

* DoomItYourself: [[{{Understatement}} Homer is not the greatest of the handymen.]]

* EveryCarIsAPinto: Martin's Soapbox car crashes into a brick wall, [[MadeOfExplodium resulting in an explosive fireball]], despite it not having an engine.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Thanks to Martin's genius, he was able to build the fasted car in the race. Unfortunately it was so fast that he lost control during the race and got into a crash that resulted in a broken arm.

* TakeThat: Creator/BillCosby is treated kindly by the episode, though one piece of a dialogue was written as a knock on his criticism of the show (and also the fact that, at the time, ''The Simpsons'' and ''The Cosby Show'' were scheduled directly against one another, a move which had attracted widespread derision when first announced and predictions it would kill off the animated show's viewership completely).

* EveryCarIsAPinto / MadeOfExplodium: Martin's Soapbox car wich has no engine crashes into a brick wall resulting in an explosive fireball.

* MultipleGunshotDeath [=/=] BlackDudeDiesFirst: Scoey, [=McBain=]'s partner.[[note]]Who oddly enough shares the same name as his bandleader on his talk show, ''Up Late with [=McBain=].''[[/note]]

* TakeThat: Creator/BillCosby is treated kindly by the episode, though one piece of a dialogue was written as a knock on his criticism of the show.

* JerkAss: Homer becomes this after Bart decides to drive Martin's car. He gets better at the end.

* WrongfullyAttributed: For those more familiar with ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsRoadRage'' and ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'', then you'll be surprised to learn that Bart's signature vehicle in both games, the Honor Roller, is actually made for (and by) ''Martin''. Initially, Bart ''is racing against Martin in a completely different Kart'', he only starts using it when Martin gets Injured, and even then, on Martins' teams' behalf.

* BadBadActing: In the ShowWithinAShow, [=McBain=] reacts to his partner bleeding out in his hands with something that sounds less like grief and more like mild annoyance.

* JerkAss: Honer becomes this after Bart decides to drive Martin's car. He gets better at the end.

* WrongfullyAttributed: For those more familiar with ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsRoadRage'' and ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'', you will be surprised to learn that Bart's signature vehicle in both games, the Honor Roller, is actually made for (and by) ''Martin''. Bart ''is racing against Martin'', but at no point does he drive the kart in question in this episode.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Variation: those more familiar with ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsRoadRage'' and ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' will be surprised to learn that Bart's signature vehicle in both, the Honor Roller, was originally ''Martin's''.

* WholePlotReference: The entire thing is a callout to an old Bill Cosby routine about soapbox derby racing.

* WholePlotReference: The entire thing is a callout to an old Bill Cosby routine about soapbox derby racing.
* XtremeSportsExcusePlot: Bart decides this week to take up soap box racing and his dad decides to show he can be a good father by helping him. It really becomes "extreme" by showing Martin's literally explosive collision and Nelson's car being rigged with illegal weapons.

* XtremeSportsXcusePlot: Bart decides this week to take up soap box racing and his dad decides to show he can be a good father by helping him. It really becomes "extreme" by showing Martin's literally explosive collision and Nelson's car being rigged with illegal weapons.

*
* ExtremeSportsExcusePlot: Bart decides this week to take up soap box racing and his dad decides to show he can be a good father by helping him. It really becomes "extreme" by showing Martin's literally explosive collision and Nelson's car being rigged with illegal weapons.

* WholePlotReference: The entire thing is a callout to an old Bill Cosby routine about soapbox derby racing.

* WeaponizedCar: Nelson's car has ''Film/BenHur''-style wheel blades that he uses to try to stop Bart at the climax.

* ShoutOut: The song playing during Homer and Bart's montage of building the racer is Bobby Goldsboro's "Watching Scotty Grow".

* StylisticSuck: Little Lightning.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Variation: those more familiar with ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsRoadRage'' and ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' will be surprise to learn that Bart's signature vehicle in both, the Honor Roller, was originally ''Martin's''.