Soap Box Derby Thrives in Video Game Age

Aug. 3, 2008— -- It may not be flashy, computerized, or even very fast, but there are few pursuits more "American" than the All-American Soap Box Derby.

Over 500 racers from 43 states gathered in Akron, Ohio, recently to compete in the 71st annual racing event, where contestants age 8 through 17 race their non-motorized cars down a nearly 1,000-foot slope to win scholarships and merchandise prizes.

Aaron Hill, 12, answered succinctly when asked what he likes about racing.

"The part where you go down the hill," he said.

Young racers have been racing down the hill at the Derby Downs, this three-lane, cement-paved Ohio racing park, for over 75 years. Derbies have been held here annually since 1936, with the exception of World War II. Contestants don't use wooden soap boxes anymore, but sleek, colorful fiberglass racers that the kids put together from kits purchased directly from the Soap Box Derby.

As their cars waited for the metal starting barriers to drop last week, racers huddled in their small seats, ready to manipulate the brakes and steering contraptions below the hull. They wore helmets for protection as they swished down the hill.

Between heats, Matthew Miszewski, 12, gave a reporter an inside tour of his bright red racer, which had yellow flames painted on the side.

"You ... have your pulley system, which helps braking," Miszewski said, pointing to a thin metal wire strung along the base of his car. "There's also steering cable, right there, my main weights, front and rear axles."

With no computer mouse and no motor, the soap box might seem like a relic of the days of soda jerks and sock hops.

And, in fact, the derby has been struggling a bit in this Internet age. Gone are the days of stands packed with more than 50,000 spectators, as in 1936, when 15-year-old Herbert Muench of St. Louis took home the title. And rarely does the race make national headlines, as in 1952, when 11-year-old Joey Lunn from Thomasville, Ga., won the race, only to smash his car on the kickboards past the finish line. Lunn escaped with just cuts and bruises.