Racers Roll Out for Soapbox Glory in D.C.

Tag : Wood Paint

The cars travel up to 30 miles an hour, and the difference betweenwinning and losing in the 30-second race is often just a few tenthsof a second -- the result of one ill-timed turn or a waywardbreeze. The simple cars, often made of wood and plastic and coveredin paint and stickers, can cost upwards of $500 and require up to100 hours of polishing and trimming to get up to snuff. Racersspend weeks in spring and fall training during a rally season,honing their driving skills and getting their 150-pound cars ready.
The 67th Greater Washington Soap Box Derby, an all-day affair thatran yesterday on a 900-foot track on Constitution Avenue betweenLouisiana and Delaware avenues, attracted about three dozencompetitors -- ages 8 to 17 -- from across the region.
And this year featured the toughest competition yet, organizerssaid.
Gone were the two charity groups, a Red Cross team and the Metropolitan Police Boys Club, that helped boostattendance at last year's event. In their stead were thetried-and-true racers and their families that dominate the fieldyear in and year out.
"The die-hards are out here," said Eric Keitz, thederby's director and a certified public accountant from Annapoliswhose two girls competed yesterday. "These kids want towin."
And, on hot summer days like yesterday, nerves can be tested.Fathers shake hands, discuss strategies and study the complicatedtournament bracket, which observers say resembles the NCAA basketball pool. Two competing fathers nearly got in a fistfightnear the starting gates.
"It's ultra-competitive," said Ken Tomasello, anassistant director of the derby whose three kids spent yearsracing. "People spend months preparing. It's the realdeal."
And it's all for the chance to go to Akron, Ohio, for the nationalcompetition late next month.
Area racers had once been shut out of winning the nation's soapboxderby championship. The area didn't bring back its first top trophyuntil last year. But a few notable racing families have helped makethe region more competitive.
The Washington area now ranks third in the nation in the racingseries, in terms of prizes won. And last year's top racer in themost competitive division -- the Master's -- was a 17-year-oldprodigy named Kacie Rader of Mechanicsville.
Rader, who won all three divisions in the District races and now isan 18-year-old incoming freshman at College of Southern Maryland , showed up to yesterday's race despite being too old for thecompetition and unable to claim another trophy. But she is still alegend among her racing peers.
"I think my dad is more proud than I am," said Rader, as she lookedat a four-foot-tall trophy and her gold winner's jacket, placedprominently at the judging table. Her championship ring, stilltucked inside a velvet box, was hidden away in her purse.
The odds-on favorites to win this year in the Master's divisionwere Courtney and Justin Rayle, a brother and sister fromMechanicsville. Courtney, a 16-year-old who will be a senior at Chopticon High School in St. Mary's County , beat her 14-year-old brother to claim first prize and add hername to a trophy that bears her uncle's name. "I love thehills and the speed," said Courtney, whose family wore"Team Rayle" embroidered shirts to the event. "And Ilove winning."