CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. (WLVT) - The
Conshohocken Soap Box Derby program is celebrating its 68
th derby this Fourth of July. Since 1951, crowds have been gathering on Fayette St. each year for the event.
The derby has a long history of children racing motor-less soap box cars down Fayette St.’s hill.
That history means a lot to Mark Marine, who runs the Conshohocken Soap Box Derby. His family is now in its third generation of involvement with soap box racing; his daughter competed in the ‘90s and his 7-year-old grandson is racing for the first time this year. Marine calls soap box racing the “family values sport.”
“It’s not like baseball or soccer where you just drop the kid off and just wait,” Marine said. “You’re involved. It’s an all-day process.”
“It’s the only kind of hobby that involves the entire family,” said Marine’s daughter, Ashley Zeiders, who won the Keystone Region’s Stock Division championship in 1995. “My dad handled me, and then my brother was at the bottom for me, and then my mother was cheering for me.”
Seven-year-old Parker Zeiders is racing in the lower of the derby’s two divisions. He drives a 200-pound stock car (kids ages 7 to 13 are eligible) and plans to someday move up to a 240-pound super stock (kids ages 9 to 18 are eligible).
During the race Parker’s car could be traveling as fast as 30 miles per hour.
“It kind of gives me nerves knowing that he’s in that car,” said Ashley Zeiders, his mom. “But we’ve been telling him, ‘If you don’t feel comfortable, put the brake on.’
Parker said he wasn’t scared because he’s been practicing at home.
“We have some big cones, and then you stop right after,” He said.
The Zeiders aren’t the ones keeping soap box racing in the family. Of the 28 stock cars and 15 super stock cars registered for the derby, three belong to the Maxwell sisters—Lizzie, Julia and Samantha—who are all racing this year.
“Every year our goal is to have fun and get a medal or a trophy,” said 12-year-old Julia Maxwell, the middle sister.
When you have soap box racing siblings, cars are passed from sister to sister like hand-me-down clothes.
“I couldn’t fit in the stock car anymore so Sam was like, ‘I want to race!’ So it’s like, we’ll put you in this one, I’ll go in that one,” said 15-year-old Samantha Maxwell, the oldest sister.
Whoever wins the Conshohocken derby gets to travel to the famous Derby Downs track in Akron, Ohio for the
national All-American Soap Box Derby. The week-long event is scheduled this year from July 14 to 20.
Meanwhile in Conshohocken, energy is high. Parker explained his feelings in one word: excited. But even though he’s confident with his steering and braking abilities, he knows he can only drive one type of car.
“Soap box car, but not an actual,” Parker said.
The Conshohocken Soap Box Derby is free and open to the public. Organizers suggest arriving around 10 a.m.
