Do you know the secret to winning a race at Akron’s historic Derby Downs? How to maintain focus and distribute a soap box car’s weight to gain an advantage — when fractions of a second separate winning and losing?
I didn’t, at least not until I met middle school students who had it down to a science earlier this month at the International Soap Box Derby Gravity Racing Challenge.
Ella Mosher, a student at Sieberling Community Learning Center, offered specific advice for young drivers: Don’t look at the crowd.
They’ll distract you from your goal.
After losing her first heat by tenths of a second, Mosher took fourth place in her bracket by making up a half second in her second heat race. In the race for third, she lost again by a tenth of a second.
Small details matter at Derby Downs.
The lessons from the gravity races weren’t a one-day curriculum. Weeks before the races, students worked on soap box cars and learned the science behind going fast.
“We had to check the weights and weigh the cars and add all the screws into the cars,” Mosher said.
Those first two components, the weight of soap box cars and where to distribute that weight, are critical to success. Each car has hidden weights inside its body, and it’s up to students to front load, back load or keep the weight centered.
Streetsboro teacher with a smirk: ‘I can’t tell you that’
Jeremy Moulton, a middle school STEM teacher at Streetsboro City Schools, said his classes worked on gravity racing curriculum for about nine weeks before moving lessons to Derby Downs. Naturally there are lectures on friction and aerodynamics, but the two biggest takeaways he wants students to have are perseverance and teamwork.
But what about the weight distribution — which Moulton said is the “secret sauce” to victory?
“I can’t tell you that,” Moulton said with a smirk.
Gravity Racing Challenge introduces students to Akron’s storied racing history
Bruce Hunsicker has been involved with downhill racing since 1961, when he first lowered himself into a soap box car and went hurtling down that 11 degree slope on the southeast side of Akron.
His family has been involved since the first race in 1934, down a city street in Dayton.
“It gets in your blood,” Hunsicker said about Derby Downs racing.
He still volunteers at Derby Downs, helping to transport cars, encourage kids, run the clocks or do whatever needs done. He has stuck around all these decades because of relationships he’s formed.
Chris Harris, chair of the regional directors for the International Soap Box Derby organization, echoed Hunsicker’s sentiment about community.
Racing, Harris added, comes down to three parts. The first is building the car itself, learning its ins and outs, and making sure everything is ready and can be repaired on race day.
The second is race day teamwork.
“Listening to a lot of these teams up there,” Harris said, “we can tell which ones are successful because they’re working together as a team.”
The third part, and perhaps the most lasting: the friendships forged through downhill racing.
“I’ve got kids that still work together, call each other, talk together, 20, 30 years later,” Harris said.
STEM success credited to Gravity Racing Challenge
Noah Lesko, a student, watched races with a friend and shared advice for younger drivers.
“Just do your best, honestly,” Lesko said. “It doesn’t really matter if you win or lose.”
The event is a competitive one, but not necessarily results-driven. Sure, some young drivers will go on to future competitions based on their performances, but the ethos of the Gravity Racing Challenge is building science, math and teamwork skills.
Aria Steres, a fifth grader at St. Vincent de Paul School, is one of the students whose performance pushed her to bigger spaces. Previously, Steres won a local race, qualifying her for the All-American races, where she placed third.
“It was super fun, but it was really nerve-wracking,” she said. “I ended up doing a lot better than I thought I did.”
Steres didn’t race at the Gravity Racing Challenge; she has since moved on to bigger races with deeper pools of competitors. She showed up to Derby Downs to support classmates, lending an experienced voice to rising competitors.
Of course, she had technical advice too, learned during her time on the downhill track — and in the classroom.
Said Steres: “I’ve succeeded a lot in engineering and STEM and science and all that kind of stuff ever since I joined this.”