Hilton’s Karlye Murphy wins first place in World Championship Soap Box Derby Stock Race
Ten-year-old Karlye Murphy’s Hilton home is filled with her trophies; and the latest one is taller than she is. On July 25, Karlye competed in the 78th Annual World Championship Soap Box Derby Super Stock Race in Akron, OH and came home with the top prize – making her a world champion.
With 56 wins this year alone, Karlye is already a seasoned racer. She began competing three years ago and won her first race on her seventh birthday making her the youngest in the world to win a rally race. Her sister, Corrinne Chick, now age 21, started the family tradition of racing and Karlye followed in her sister’s footsteps.
Karlye and her dad, Jeff Murphy, work side-by-side assembling her car and the family travels together, sometimes as far as Virginia, to race on the weekends. At the race, he and Karlye factor in temperature, weight and Karlye’s position in the car before she heads down the hill. Karlye’s mom, Amy Sawyer, waits at the bottom of the hill and then helps load the car onto the trailer to take back up the hill.
At Derby Downs in Akron, both sets of Karlye’s grandparents, Tom and Lee Sawyer from Hilton, and Jerry and Sue Murphy from Spencerport, were on hand to see her race down the 989-foot track. Karlye’s competition was 94 other national champion racers as well as racers from as far as New Brunswick and New Zealand.
Karlye became eligible for the World Championship when she won the Local Super Stock Championship at Durand Eastman Park. “To win the Local was pretty special and something we never thought we’d be able to do,” said Murphy.
Rochester, considered one of the top 10 soap box race cities in the country, holds six rally races and the local race each year, in addition to a Super Kids Race for physically challenged youth and the Quad A Race for inner city youth.
Youth ages 7-20 children are eligible to race in one of three divisions – stock car (ages 7-13), super stock car (ages 10-18) or masters (ages 13-20). For more information, visit the All American Soap Box Derby, Region 9 website at aasbd.org.
