More than 300 Soap Box Derby racers from the U.S., Japan and Canada on Monday afternoon marched downtown in the Champions Welcome Parade, jump-starting a week of events tied to the 86th annual FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby.
Participants walked down Main Street from Canal Park to Cascade Plaza, as applause and cheers rang out from spectators along the sidewalks.
The racers from Region 9, which is composed entirely of New York state, chanted “Region 9, Region 9” as they walked through, with some of the kids decked out in white racing jumpsuits with checkerboard patterns.
The parade was followed by the Champions Welcome Ceremony in Cascade Plaza, where racers tossed prizes in the direction of crowds of supporters while their names were called over a speaker. As the crowd cheered, an announcer shared racers’ hobbies and dream careers, which ranged from future veterinarians and journalists to rodeo clowns and official Wienermobile drivers.
Princess Piper’s pit crew
Standing out in the crowd at the welcome ceremony were seven people wearing bubblegum pink t-shirts that read “Piper’s Pit Crew” in bold letters. The family of 7-year-old Piper Taylor traveled from Pittsburgh for the derby.
Piper won the local stock race in the Western Pennsylvania Soap Box Derby in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, to qualify for the derby in Akron.
Piper’s car was lent to her by Tim Cassidy, a Pennsylvania construction worker who lets the local racers use his shop to work on their cars.
“He works so hard to get everybody here,” said Piper’s mom, Lauren Taylor.
Two of Piper’s siblings, Rowan and Delaney, are also derby racers, although they did not qualify this year. Their mother shared that Piper has a bit of a competitive spirit with Rowan, 14, who was the family’s first racer.
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“She said, ‘You know you’ve been doing this longer than me, and I think I might be better than you,’” Lauren said.
Despite not placing this year, Piper’s siblings were excited to cheer her on alongside the rest of the family. Piper’s aunt Courtney even designed the vibrant crew shirts and “Piper pins” to pass out to other race attendees. She also made a “Princess Piper” shirt for the racer to wear.
Local racer will gather large crowd of supporters
Akron racer Lennox Lee, 10, will have more than 50 people supporting her this week at the Rally Stock races.
This is Lee’s second year racing. And as exciting as the races are, Lee said she enjoys “running away from the (racer’s) tent and hanging out with my friends.”
At the welcome ceremony, Lee’s arms were decked out in colorful rubber bracelets with the names of fellow racers. The bracelets Lee was exchanging were blue, purple and pink tie dye bands that read “2024 Rally Champ.”
Lee has her color coordination down — her bracelets match the colors of her derby car, and her racing outfit will include a blue skirt, yellow top and pink shoes.
Christmas in July
Older kids like Paige Marthey, 16, and Megan DeLauder, 18, wore red Santa Claus hats when they took the stage at the welcome ceremony. They get to race in the Super Stock and Masters divisions, which allow for participants as old as 18 and 20 years old, respectively.
This year is DeLauder’s first time racing — she participates alongside Marthey and her family. So far, she is enjoying the spirit of the event.
“It’s fun and competitive, but everybody’s still a good sport about it,” DeLauder said.
Marthey, who is in her fourth year of competing, said she looks forward to connecting with the other racers.
“You get to meet a lot of people from different parts of the world,” Marthey said, “and you make friendships.”
