![]() Oversight is by the International Soap Box Derby organization, or ISBD, run by a paid administrative staff headquartered at Derby Downs, a term also used metonymically to describe said organization. Local or regional races are held yearly, with winners from each sent to compete at the All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship, officially the FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship, which occurs every July at Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio. The Soap Box Derby, promoted as "the greatest amateur racing event in the world," is a largely volunteer-driven, family-oriented sporting activity for youth conducted across the US and around the world. Leading into the 21st century the Soap Box Derby has continued to expand with the inclusion of the Rally Program racers at the All-American in 1993, the creation of the Ultimate Speed Challenge in 2004 and the Legacy Division in 2019. With them came the prefabricated fiber glass kit racers which kids could now purchase, this to appeal to a new generation of racers uncomfortable with constructing their own cars from scratch, as well as to help Derby effectively meet its financial obligations. Finally there was Derby's decision to divide the competition with the introduction of the Junior Division kit cars in 1976.Īs fiscal challenges continued, the Derby instituted new guidelines by redrafting the Official race divisions into three: Stock, Super Stock and Masters. In 1975 Karren Stead won the World Championship, the first of many girls that would go on to claim the title. In 1973 a scandal hit Derby Downs with the discovery that their World Champion had cheated, and was thus disqualified, further exacerbating an uncertain future. Racer enrollment plummeted the following year. The following year Chevrolet dropped its sponsorship, sending Derby Downs into a tailspin that threatened its very future. ![]() The seventies brought significant changes, beginning with the introduction of girls to the sport in 1971. At Derby Downs the track length was shortened twice to slow the cars down. From the very beginning, technical and car-design innovation happened rapidly, so Derby officials drafted ways of governing the sport so that it did not become too hazardous as speed records were being challenged. Its greatest years occurred during the fifties and sixties when viewer turnout at the All-American reached 100,000 spectators, and racer participation was at an all-time high. In 1936 the All-American had its own purpose-built track constructed at what is now Derby Downs, with some communities across America following suit with tracks of their own. At the same time there was enthusiastic support from coast to coast of numerous local newspapers that published aggressively during the summer months when races were held, with stories boasting of their own community races and of their Champion travelling to Akron with dreams of capturing a National title and hometown glory. The Soap Box Derby expanded quickly across the US from the very beginning, bolstered largely by a generous financial campaign by its national sponsor, Chevrolet Motor Company. Cars competing in the program race downhill, propelled by gravity alone. 2024 will mark the 86th running of the All-American since its inception in 1934 in Dayton, Ohio, having missed four years (1942–1945) during World War II and one (2020) during the COVID pandemic. Proclaimed " the greatest amateur racing event in the world", the program culminates each July at the FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship held at Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio, with winners from their local communities travelling from across the US, Canada, Germany and Japan to compete. The Soap Box Derby is a youth-oriented soap box car racing program which has been running in the United States since 1934. Photos (top to bottom) show the three official divisions: Stock, Super Stock and Masters. The 85th running of the FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby Championship in Akron, Ohio in 2023. Shawn Tittle ( Race Programs Manager).Heather Morrow ( Director of Programs and Events).Jodi Busch ( Product Sales and Finance Manager).
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