Young racers roll out soap box derby

Gravity was everyone's best friend this weekend in the inaugural Sisters Mountain Rally, an All-American soap box derby event at the Sisters Eagle Airport.

The event was sanctioned by the Salem Soap Box Derby Association.

From its inception in 1952, Salem Soap Box Derby has been teaching kids aged 8-17 the skills of workmanship and craftsmanship, the thrill of competition, the pride of tradition, but most importantly, the spirit of sportsmanship in a fun family environment.

Nearly 40 entries from all over the Pacific Northwest attended the race, organized by Sisters' Paul Sadler, whose daughter, Mikayla, competed at the national soap box derby finals in Akron, Ohio in July. Both their cars turned in first-place runs on Saturday.

Pickups pulling race trailers and cargo haulers made the trek over the pass to test their skills and sleek, gravity-powered kit-cars on the tarmac race course. The event was split into two classes, Stock and Superstock, with car and driver needing to weigh in at 200 and 240 pounds respectively.

Issues with the special photo-electric timing lights caused a delay on Saturday, as the morning's inversion-layer smoke cleared and derby racers eagerly whisked white sheets from their miniature cars. Knowing the show must go on, airport owner Benny Benson literally flew to the rescue with an impromptu flight over to Salem to pick up the replacement timing lights.

"It went beautiful after the timers go fixed," said Sadler. "We ran out of daylight on Saturday and finished up a little late. We had great sportsmanship displayed and lots of interest from parents and their kids. I even think we picked up some full-time drivers and have already been asked about buying cars. A brand-new kit with weights and wheels costs about $700."

Richard Johnson and his son Ronan, 10, drove from their home in Camano Island, Washington.

"We were probably the longest travelers, it took about seven hours to get here. For a first-time event it all went really smoothly, especially with all the adversity to overcome with the fire helicopters and timing lights," Richard said, fine-tuning the suspension on their bright red racer. "But that's like what I always say about soap box derby racing, everyone has a great "can-do' attitude."

To give the cars an initial boost of speed on the gently-sloping runway, two wooden start-towers were erected to provide a seven-foot hill for the dual contestants.

"On a ramp like this you want to be tail-heavy," he said. "The rules restrict you to 15 pounds of weight. They shortened up the track a bit from yesterday to 800 feet, which greatly improved the course."

Cars hit a top speed of about 17 miles per hour according to the timing table. On faster tracks racers can streak along at over 30 miles per hour. Entries this weekend were from Region 1, which includes soap box derby speedsters from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, although competitions are only held in Oregon and Washington.

Sunday, junior racer Anthony Poggi from Poulsbo, Washington stood near his metallic-green race car in matching green sneakers and waited for his turn to put the car on the scales.

"We didn't finish yesterday, but hopefully we win something bigger today," he said. "I like racing soap box derby cars, it's fun traveling around and meeting different people."

The two days' heats went on late into the evening both days, with lots of adjusting and tinkering done in the pits between races.

"The cars are constructed from regulation kits with wood floorboards, steel axles and plastic bodies," said Johnson. "Wheels are made of fiberglass and rubber. Total weight of the vehicle is about 120 pounds. The real subtleties are in the weights and alignments. These races are decided by thousandths of a second, so the little things all add up."

Each heat consists of two phases and after the finish, racers get shuttled back to the starting ramp where they swap wheels and lanes, eliminating any lane or equipment advantage.

Sadler explained they were running the race under the Salem Soap Box Derby Association's header to see how things go for the first event in Sisters.

"A special thanks to Benny for flying us out to Salem in his plane to get the other set of lights," said Sadler, rubbing down Mikayla's red car in preparation for Sunday's afternoon heats. "It saved our race. It was a wonderful flight - 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back. Benny was great. We'd like to do three or four races here if possible, with the next one planned for next spring."

Jim Youngers, the local director of Salem's soap box derby group was very enthused with the turnout of the local racers in Sisters, including Mikayla Sadler and Arianne Griffy.

"It was so fun to see the kids try the cars who had never raced before," he said. "We enjoy the competition but it's really about the lifelong friends we make, the camaraderie and teaching children about family values."

For more information about soap box derby racing go to www.salemsbd.org or call Paul Sadler at 541-548-4820.