race to the finish line The Town of Clarendon's 2nd annual Soapbox Car Race was held June 2 on the South Manning Road hill. Families and children designed and built the cars, then spent the day together racing. Local businesses and corporate sponsors made the race possible. Children asked local businesses to sponsor their cars to offset the $55 cost of the car kit. This year's Platinum Sponsor, Hanson Aggregates, made it possible to present winners with savings bonds, as well as trophies. Hanson Representative Dave Schuth officially started the race. The Soapbox Car Race is a double elimination race. The racers weighed in on Friday night and pictures of the racers, cars and sponsor signs were taken and posted at the race site. The cars were checked over to meet safety specs and regulations, and then impounded. Mandatory trial runs started at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the race starting at noon. Last year's first race field had 17 racers, this year there were 41 racers. "We wanted to bring the community together with a fun family event, something that would promote positive youth development," said event organizer, Susan Colby. Organizers thank Butch Drennen, of C.A. Drennen Service, for his help obtaining product sponsors (t-shirts, hats, toys, etc. for the kids) and for the use of his repair shop as the official weigh-in station. Joe Kurtz of Kurtz's Care Care volunteered the use of his car trailer for the race ramp. Food/refreshments were made available by the Cub Scouts and the girls soccer team.
Soapbox car race results Division 1 (Ages 8-10) 2nd place - Car #104 Ronly Jewell, sponsored by Jewell Racing 3rd place - Car #10 Kristen Paris, sponsored by Canvas Crafters 4th place - Car #31 Ricky Rodriquez, sponsored by "Grampa" Division 2 (Ages 11-16) 2nd place - Car #22 Jayme Bopp, sponsored by Action Performance 3rd place - Car #99 Steven Klatt, sponsored by Oblivious 4th place - Car #88 Shane Moak, sponsored by Mastercraft Metals |
