|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
A kid, a car, a ramp, a festival
Many fans had better seats for Saturday’s sixth annual Soap Box Derby of Culpeper, but the Eatons’ were most unique.
The Major League Baseball equivalent would be seats owned by rooftop dwellers of the Sheffield Avenue apartments overlooking Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
As those Cubs fans do all season, the Eatons watched a live sporting event from the comfort of home Saturday, sitting on their porch near the intersection of North Blue Ridge Avenue and West Davis Street in downtown Culpeper. Mere feet from the Eatons’ driveway, each soap box derby race began with a roll through the staging area and up to the starting line before the drivers rode down the Blue Ridge hill, helmeted heads tucked into their cars or leaned forward aerodynamically.
But unlike those rooftop bleacher seats in Wrigleyville, the Eatons’ seats won’t likely be found for sale online any time soon. They plan to watch again next year from their folding chairs, and with an even greater rooting interest.
“We’ve already gotten signed up to race next year,” eight-year-old Bryce Eaton said, sporting a derby T-shirt during the eight-hour event. “It looks pretty fun.”
Bryce's father Duane agreed.
“It’s pretty cool," he said. "This is the first time we’ve ever experienced anything like this.”
Duane, Bryce and Duane's wife Mechelle moved to Culpeper from Okeechobee, Fla., in October, having never seen a soap box derby race. On Saturday, they saw more than 150 races as 125 drivers age eight to 17 took the downhill plunge, reaching speeds of nearly 30 miles per hour before crossing the finish line.
Among the notable sights in the bracket-style competition were Highland School’s Austin Hickman winning the Super Stock Division championship, twins Nicole and Spencer Holloway’s showdown in the Masters Division, the Masters championship won by Quinn-Lynn Bates and the efforts of more than 120 event volunteers.
“You see the whole community come out,” Duane Eatmon said. “When we first moved here everybody told us we had front row seats for the soap box derby, so we’ve been anticipating it for a while.”
The entire Culpeper community didn’t turn out, of course, but the record crowd was estimated at over 3,000 spectators, most of which sat in folding chairs or on blankets under the shade of canopy tents erected along the 650-foot course. They watched and cheered from behind a barrier of hay bails, helping make the event an overwhelming success in the eyes of organizer Frankie Gilmore.
"Everybody came out to support the kids,” Gilmore said. “The streets were packed with kids and there was a constant flow of all the family members and friends and people that just came out to see a good race. It was good all-American, wholesome fun.”
(bold sub hed)
Hickman’s heroics
A .01-second victory in the Super Stock Division on Saturday, gave Austin Hickman a reason to plan a six and a half hour trip to Akron, Ohio, on July 26.
Like the winners of the Stock Division (Kaleb Marshall) and Masters Division (Quinn-Lynn Bates), Hickman earned an entry in next month’s 71st All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship in Akron. He edged out Zeb Armstrong in the final of Super Stock Division, winning the Phase A race by .003 seconds before switching wheels and lanes with Armstrong (per soap box rules) and winning the Phase B race by .007 seconds for an overall time differential victory of .01.
“It’s awesome,” Hickman, 13, said after the race. “I was just trying to make top 16. Then I made the top four and I realized I could probably win.”
Victory alone was thrilling for Hickman, but qualifying for the world championships as a result was the real treat. The Culpeper resident knows first hand the allure of Akron's derby festivities. Three years ago, as a rookie drive, Hickman won the Stock Division in Culpeper and advanced to the Ohio competition.
“Akron’s really fun,” Hickman said. “You go there for a week and you race one day. Besides that, they treat you like royalty. You get to go to baseball games, amusement parks and you get $1,000 to help pay for the hotel and stuff."
Not only will it be a familiar trip for Hickman, he’ll make it with familiar company. In 2005, Kaleb Marshall’s older brother won the Master Division, so the Hickman and Marshall families went to Akron together. They’ll do the same this year with Marshall winning the Stock Division.
Despite taking this year’s Super Stock title, Hickman actually lost his last race Saturday...See the Wednesday print edition of the Fauquier Times-Democrat for the complete story.
You must be logged in to post a comment.