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OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — After a morning storm, local kids dried off their cars and geared up for the Omaha Soap Box Derby, an 88-year-old tradition held at Seymour Smith Park.
Eleven-year-old Audrey, a runner-up at last year’s World Championships in Akron, Ohio, was in a competitive spirit.
“It’s really fun, especially when you beat people,” she said.
Her friend, Grace, was also feeling confident: “I think I’m going to do great. I’m excited to go down the hill and just have fun.”
For many families, the derby provides bonding time. Vixie described the effort her dad puts in behind the scenes.
“He works pretty hard because he has to like, fix the car and, like, he has to pick it up all the time to like, get it onto the truck and stuff,” she said.
One thing all of the kids said is that soap box derby has helped them make new friends.
“And like you get to meet new people that you never met before by racing,” said Lexi, who turns 11 next week.
“It feels pretty good to like, win. But then if I’m racing a friend I kind of feel bad for them,” said Vixie.
Parents say the lessons go beyond the racetrack. Chris Ivory’s 7-year-old son Kyndall was competing in his first derby.
“It’s teaching character skills. It helps him out with people skills. It also allows him to tinker and work on his own things and take pride in it,” Ivory said.
Lexi fundraised to get herself to the starting line: “I raised over a thousand dollars, actually, for my own stock car.”
Drew Brand summed up the sportsmanship the event encourages.
“Be a good sport. Like, don’t get mad at other people,” he said.
Omaha has produced multiple soap box derby champions and runners-up over the years. Fourteen-year-old Drew was a world champion last year.
“And now my car is hanging up in a museum right now in Akron, Ohio,” he said. “It feels great. I feels like everyone knows who you are now.”
Grace reflected on the feeling of being behind the wheel.
“It’s like this free feeling almost. It’s really good,” she said.
Winners from this year’s Omaha race will advance to the World Championships in July.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
