Ninth annual Soap Box Derby draws crowd of more than 100 people

More than 100 racers, spectators and volunteers attended Saturday's ninth annual Soap Box Derby on North Sprigg Street near Blanchard Elementary School.

"It's fun going down the hill -- really fast, faster than on a bike," said Kayla Thurman, a 9-year-old stock division driver.

Using the force of gravity, the racers reached coasting speeds of about 25 mph down the 900-foot incline.

In her second year of racing, Kayla told her friends at North Elementary School about it and spent about two weeks getting ready. Her 11-year-old brother, Justin, also a racer, gave her some pointers: Shimmy yourself way to the back and put your nose to the foam pad to reduce the wind hitting your helmet and slowing you down.

Her father, Jeff, said Justin first had the chance to enter three years ago when drivers were needed. He thought the event was neat for both children, his father-in-law, himself and his wife, Kristi, to work on together.

"Kayla started at 8, and she was excited to do it," he said.

The Soap Box Derby got its official start in 1933 by a Dayton Daily News photographer. Its intergenerational characteristics are evidenced in families and service groups that sponsor it. Rotarian Dan Cotner and former Rotarian Bud Estes, both early Cape Girardeau racers, were spectators at the event. The race was originally co-sponsored by Rueseler Chevrolet and the Cape Girardeau News. A change in 1972 withdrew Chevrolet's sponsorship, passing it on to service clubs like Rotary.

Assembly clinics prior to race day serve to assemble new cars and disassemble existing cars while drivers and pit crews inspect parts. The night before the race, car and driver receive a final inspection and weigh in.

Justin said that taking the car apart and putting it back together looks simple.

"But once you take it all apart, it takes at least an hour to put it back," he said.

Justin learned the importance of brakes in a practice run near his grandparents' home in Cape Girardeau.

"The pedal went flying forward, I heard a clink and noticed I wasn't stopping, so I turned the car and went up the steep hill to stop," he said.

Drivers wear helmets, road blocks are established and hay bales are set up at the finish line in case of brake failure.

Co-director and Rotarian Jeff Jernigan admitted he was a little nervous but glad for a trial run when his 11-year-old daughter, Jenna, drove in her first derby in the super stock division.

Jernigan said next year's plans include increased promotion and added elements of NASCAR, with whom the All-American Soap Box derby partnered with in 2002 as part of its youth program initiative.

Co-director Tracey Glenn plans for her 8-year-old son, Zac, to race next year.

The derby is sponsored by Southeast Missouri Hospital and Cape Girardeau Rotary Club. Proceeds are split -- 25 percent to the Rotary International Foundation and 75 percent for local giving. Last year proceeds totaled $11,000.

cpagano@ semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133