YMCA-WEIU staff is preparing for the Nucor Bar Mill Central New York All-American Soap Box Derby, which will be held Saturday near Hoopes Park.

As a family event, those gathered look forward to the thrill of racers and Super Kids coasting down the hill.

This year, 35 cars with 42 racers will participate, Steve Komanecky, race director said. Auburn football boosters provide hot dogs helped by coach Dave Moskov and the team, and The E. John Gavras Center organizes children's activities.

Business sponsors pay for part or all of some racers' kits, with $400 for the car and $100 for the wheels. Local businesses are very supportive in offering sponsorships to local racers.

Good weather is the race's biggest asset, since sunshine makes rolling downhill and watching easier. Komanecky said cars can race in the rain, but a downpour with thunder and lightning would trigger a rain date.

Komanecky was responsible for re-instituting the event in Auburn.

“Probably 12 or 13 years ago I was sitting in the lobby at Gavras Center and saw an article that said, ‘What ever happened to the Soap Box Derby?'” Komanecky said. He remembered the derby in Auburn when he was a child, so he called the writer of the article, who told him how to get one started.

Komanechy, Mark Izzo of West Middle School and Art Wenzel, then working for The Citizen, planned a derby.

“The three of us charted a course and re-started the Derby in 2001,” Komanecky said.

Participants get trophies, shirts and goodie bags, and eight finishers in each Division get placement trophies.

Prior to race day, trial runs take place down North Division Street near the landfil and produce top speeds of 35 miles per hour. The trials include: Fools' Day Trial, April 5; Ice Breaker Trial, May 3, and Carbueration Day, May 17. The East Genesee slope runs 28 to 30 miles per hour.

On the eve of the race, cars are thoroughly checked for irregularities that could give anyone an advantage, then locked in the Hoopes Park Clubhouse to retrieve the day of the race.

Parents and children build the cars from kits, adjust and refine them and work together during practice. Cars bought from the AASBD with instructions can be put together with simple tools in two or three hours. All cars in a division are built to the same plans, with assembly questions fielded by local committees.

Non-winning cars are often passed on. The Y had some cars from previous races to be filled with young drivers who didn't want to start from the very beginning in building the car. These cars are kept from year to year.

The All-American Soap Box Derby runs from March to July annually, with nearly 350 local events in the United States each year, showcasing three major divisions as well as points-accumulating “rally” races.

Local major divisions are Stock, for first-time builders ages 8 to 17, with a smaller car for children under 110 pounds; Super Stock, for ages 9 to 17 with a larger car; Super Kids, for developmentally disabled children ages 8 to 17, racing in two-seat cars with adult assistance.

Registration is now closed.

Each division's local winners will advance to the Championship Race at Derby Downs in Akron held July 20 through 25.

Kathleen Barran

253-5311 ext. 238

kathleen.barran@lee.net

If you go.

What: 2009 Nucor Bar Mill Central New York

All-American Soap Box Derby

When: Saturday, May 23; drivers arrive at 7:45 a.m., practice at 8 a.m., opening ceremony at 9 a.m. and

racing at 10 a.m.

Where: East Genesee Street, Auburn (near

Hoopes Park)

Cost: $35 Y members, $40 non-members and free to observers

Info: Call 253-5304 or visit www.aasbd.org