The drivers of a stock, super stock or master soap box derby car are the best. Because they are kids.
Why wait until you are sixteen to drive a car? The Northern Maine Soap Box Derby hosted their first race in Houlton Maine in 1996. And from 1997 for the next five years running, the Houlton race in Aroostook County was the nation’s largest local race. In a small town of around 6700, close to 200 cars and their racers competed to see who would represent the local at the All American Soap Box Derby in Akron Ohio.
The Houlton Maine race is held on a specially engineered hill to save time in set up, tear down. And so energy is channeled, not wasted in making sure cars are teched out, safe. The rest of the race details addressed so all drivers learn the “thrill of the hill”.
Races in Camden, So Portland, Rumford are not longer held in Maine. And talk of Bangor Maine’s Eastern division race being mothballed could mean Houlton Maine will be the site for a state soap box derby race. That is exciting and the local Northern Maine Soap Box Derby welcomes the challenge, privledge of being the host hill to find a winning champion to represent Maine in Akron’s race in July. This year’s local race is June 19th, 2010. Slide in to a derby car, it is not as easy as it looks.
And add to the experience if you were eight or nine and it was your first time behind the wheel looking down the barrel of a very large, fast hill.
Sponsor a car. Take a kid under your wing. I had two kids, a boy and girl who won the biggest local in the country and went on to Akron Ohio which was a great family experience. All four kids raced, with a special trailer used to hit rallies in New Hampshire, southern Maine. Look in to Soap box derby racing where gravity, less air resistance, less friction is your “engine”. The stock car weight with kid, car, everything is not to exceed 200 pounds. For super stock 230 and master’s lay down racer 250 pounds to make them sail fast if you find the shortest line to the bottom of the hill. And don’t hit the expensive timer.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers 207.532.6573