Colin Brewer kneels beside the car he raced in the Omaha Soap Box Derby.

Local youngster

tries his hand

at soap box

racing

by Darlene Hollwager- Staff Writer

It was pure chance that Jason Brewer and his sons were in Wal-Mart that day and saw the table to register for a drawing to win an opportunity to participate in the Omaha Soap Box Derby Association's race on June 21, at Seymour Smith Park, at 72nd and Harrison.

Brewer didn't know anything about soap box racing, but put his sons names in just for fun. He received word that Colin's name was picked and, since they were from Gretna, they could use the Optimist Club's corporate car. The car hadn't been used in a long time; in fact, many Optimists didn't realize they had a corporate box car.

There are many corporations that have soap box cars and make them available to youngsters who don't have cars, to participate in the sport and learn how to drive one. Apparently the cars are fairly expensive. Brewer said that just a basic kit cost $450, and each wheel costs $90. Many of the kids have cars that are sponsored by car repair places, such as Inter-Tech Collision.

The Brewers were allowed to pick up the car out of storage at Seymour Smith Park and take it home and use it to practice. The internet made it easy to find information about the sport and offered some help on what to do. "We made some repairs to the car," Brewer stated. "It needed new brake pads and cleaned. It hadn't been used in a long time."

They took the car to the track a couple of times for Colin to practice. "The first time it was new and I swerved a lot," said Colin. "The track is bumpy." The race was double elimination. Each heat is two runs and they don't race side-by-side with the other cars. The race is judged by time differential.

The first run in a heat the participants trade two wheels with another contestant. The second run, they trade four wheels. They don't want the wheels to make the difference, the driving skills are the most important. Colin won his first heat and advanced to the second heat. The time differential was made up by his competitor so he lost the second heat. By the time the third heat was run, the track was getting soft and driving skills became extremely important to find the right spot on the track that gave the best speed. Colin did not win his third heat. He was just one heat away from a consolation trophy.

Colin, at age 12, was in the Stock division. Next year, if he were to compete, he would be in the Super Stock division; the oldest kids are in the Masters division. Many of the kids in the Masters division attend rallies around the neighboring states, hoping to compete in the National Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio.

Brewer said there were a lot of first timers being introduced to the sport. "It was hard but fun," said Colin." What made it hard was learning how to keep the car straight and not swerve on the bumpy track and trying to stay tucked for the aerodynamics, to get the air flow over his head.

Another difficulty was learning to brake correctly and not burn up the brakes. You need to feather out the brakes. "It's not as easy as it looks," commented Brewer. "There is a lot of thinking and strategy involved." The Brewers have the first choice to run the car again next year, if they choose. Brewer said he may sign up his eight-year old son, Devin for the car. He would like to find a sponsor for a car for Colin to take into the next division. Any takers out there?