NEWBERRY — For 12-year-old Chase Minick, racing soap box derby cars was something that he wanted to try. Today he has three races under his belt and is ready for more.
Minick, a student at Newberry Middle School, built his first soap box derby car in March as part of a workshop with 4-H. The purpose of building the cars was to race within the 4-H circuit that includes Newberry, Union and Lexington, according to Alana West, Newberry County 4-H Agent.
Beginning in April in Union, races are held there, Lexington and now in Newberry for 4-Hers. West said they typically have one race per month for kids to participate in.
“It’s just something I wanted to try,” Minick said.
Minick has participated in three races so far this year, all in Union. Of those races, Minick has achieved first place twice and finished fourth in another. His fourth race will be this weekend in Newberry, starting at 10 a.m. at the Clemson Extension Office next to Piedmont Technical College, hosted by 4-H.
West said practice begins at 8 a.m. that day for participants. The day typically wraps up around 10 p.m., she said, depending on how many participants there are.
The fee to participate is $10 per car. Participants can register up until the day of, West said.
Because the event is closer, West said she was hoping participants would come from Lexington. Participation at the races averages 10 participants in Class A and five in Class B.
Minick will be racing both Class A and Class B soap box derby cars this weekend, he said.
Stock cars (Class A) typically come with a kit to put them together and plastic wheels for the car. Class B has ball-bearings, Minick said.
On a Class A car, the front contains six inch wheels, with seven inch wheels in the back. On a Class B car, all wheels are seven inches.
“You can’t race them together because they’re not compatible,” West said.
While Minick built his first car in the 4-H workshop, he is currently working on the side to finish his Class B model for this weekend’s event. His mother, Eleandor, said he has been working on it for roughly two weeks.
Minick’s Class A model is blue with red, yellow and orange flames. He said his father, Kevin, helped him with the tracing, while he did the painting.
For his second car, Minick said he was thinking about putting lightening bolts on the car and painting it orange.
West said when they built the cars in the 4-H workshop, it took roughly three to four hours, but the pieces were already cut out. It takes half a sheet of plywood and one eight foot two-by-four, West said.
If the pieces were not fully cut out, it would take roughly eight or more hours to complete, which does not include the painting of the car.
While this weekend’s event sponsors wish to remain anonymous, West said there are two of them.
Trophies will be given to winners from Class A and Class B and a Spirit Award will also be given. The money collected from entry fees all goes into a pot, West said, with winners getting “x” amount of money. The money all goes back to the kids, she said.
Next year, West said they will add to the event and it would include more than just a race.
Participants must wear helmets in this weekend’s race and their cars must have seatbelts. They must also wear long pants and closed toe shoes.
Because it is not mandatory for the cars to have breaks, they run off gravity, West said. There will be volunteers waiting to catch the cars as they come to a stop. If for some reason they cannot be caught, the cars will be stopped by hay-bales that are strategically placed.
“I like everything about it,” Minick said. “I like the sportsmanship, everybody is nice.”
From competing in several races in the same circuit, Minick said he has made friends throughout the process.
Minick’s mother said she’s found that it doesn’t matter if you have the heaviest or lightest car, but rather having to have the right setup to be successful.
The key to winning, Minick said is having the best crew.
“Mine is my mom and my dad,” he said.
His mother said both she and her husband love being a part of the “crew.”
Minick said it is also important to keep the steering straight on the car while racing. While West said it is more about a size thing, rather than age with racing soap box derby cars, Minick said he plans to continue racing them until he can no longer do so.
West said she wants to encourage as many people that are interested to come watch the event, as it is free of charge and a unique 4-H activity that not all towns are doing.
“If you’ve never seen it before, it’s something you need to see,” Eleandor Minick said.