Soap Box Derby

The Soap Box Derby is a youth-oriented gravity racer event founded in 1934 in the United States by Myron Scott (a photojournalist native to Dayton, Ohio), employed by the Dayton Daily News, and preceded by events such as Kid Auto Races at Venice in 1914. 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 traveling from across the US, Canada, Germany, and Japan to compete. 2024 marked 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-19 pandemic. Cars competing in the program race downhill, propelled by gravity alone.

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. At the same time there was enthusiastic support from coast to coast from 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 traveling to Akron with dreams of capturing a national title and hometown glory. 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.

Its greatest years occurred during the 1950s and 1960s when spectator turnout at the All-American reached 100,000, and racer participation was at an all-time high. 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. At Derby Downs the track length was shortened twice to slow the cars down.

The 1970s brought significant changes, beginning with the introduction of girls to the sport in 1971, although a girl had competed in the event's local predecessor in 1934 and placed second. The following year Chevrolet dropped its sponsorship, sending Derby Downs into a tailspin that threatened its future. Racer enrollment plummeted the following year. In 1973 a scandal hit Derby Downs with the discovery that their world champion had cheated, and was thus disqualified, further exacerbating the uncertainty of the future. In 1975 Karren Stead won the world championship, the first of many girls who would go on to claim the title. Finally, there was the derby's decision to divide the competition with the introduction of the Junior Division kit cars in 1976.

As fiscal challenges continued, the derby instituted new guidelines by redrafting the official race divisions into three: stock, super stock and masters. With them came prefabricated fiberglass kit racers which kids could now purchase, to appeal to a new generation of racers uncomfortable with constructing their own cars from scratch, as well as to help the derby effectively meet its financial obligations. 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.