It's time to go racing again in Kansas City! The August 21 & 22 rally will be an NDR sanctioned race. Drivers must be at least 7 years old on the day of the race and no older than 20.

· Registration fees are $35 per driver per day and $25 for additional family members.

· Bring a copy of your child's birth certificate if you haven't already given us one.

TOWN HALL MEETING

“We are honored to have the opportunity to host a Kansas City Town Hall Meeting at the Kansas City Soap Box Derby Track. This will be a great opportunity for area residents to share their concerns and questions with the Mayor, while getting acquainted with our newly renovated, family-oriented gravity racing sport facility! I encourage everyone who lives, works or plays in Kansas City to take advantage of this important opportunity to take part in their community.”

Mayor Funkhouser wants to hear from Kansas City residents as well as residents of the metropolitan area about the issues they consider most important. Join the Mayor and be part of this important civic dialog.

MORE RACING SEPT. 18 & 19

The rally on Sept. 18 & 19 will be an All-American sanctioned race. Racers must be at least 8 years old on the day of the race and no older than 18.

· Registration fees are $35 per driver per day and $25 for additional family members.

· Bring a copy of your child's birth certificate if you haven't already given us one.

Come to the track early on Sept. 11 to help prepare the track for the race. There is always mowing and weed-eating to be done. Many hands make light work.

NEW TRACK OPENING MARKED BY RIBBON-CUTTING AND RAIN

The Kansas City Local Race on June 12th was the scene of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, record amounts of rain, and one of the latest running races in KC history. To commemorate the first race on the newly resurfaced track, we were pleased to have Brady Pollington, assistant to KC Mayor Mark Funkhouser, Cindy Circo, District 5 Councilwoman, Charlie Podrebarac, creator of the Cowtown Comic Strip, and Paul Arnsmeyer, who was instrumental in getting the track built in its current location in 1977. Assisting in the ribbon-cutting was also Dr. Mary Magnussen, our long-time KCSBD friend and volunteer (she's our car number caller) who had recently received her doctorate in education. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was followed by a few celebrity races.

Just as the race was poised to begin, the heavens opened. Huge raindrops turned into sheets of rain. When it became clear that this was not going to be a short rain delay, people scurried from pop-up tents to cars. Some went home to wait out the rain; others took shelter at the nearby McDonalds using the hand dryers to dry hair and clothing. It was decided that if we could not start the race by 3:00pm, we would delay the race until the next day.

Sure enough, at 2:45 a line of blue sky appeared in the west. Cars were unwrapped. Brooms and blowers were brought out to dry the track. And shortly after 3pm, the race finally began. Unfortunately, the rain took its toll on the PA and phone system. The people on the bridge and the topside had to scramble to figure out how to handle the problems. Thank goodness for cell phones and unlimited minutes. The announcer on the bridge could not touch the microphone without getting shocked, so the person with the cell phone at the topside, communicated the time differentials to the person holding the megaphone who then reported the results to the crowd. Just another crazy day at the race track.

An additional complication was that we had reserved a room from 5pm to 9:30pm at First Baptist Church of Raytown for our Awards Banquet. Terry Henry was smoking chicken for it in Shawnee, KS. All during the race we were wondering how we were going to sandwich in the Awards Banquet after the race. The folks at First Baptist Church were within 15 minutes of giving up on us when Terry arrived with the food. Some people began trickling in to the banquet before 8pm, but the race was still going on. First Baptist had requested that we leave by 9:30pm, but some of the banquet supplies, the trophies and the winners didn't arrive until after 9. Bryan Stephens and Jon Edwards had to swallow their food quickly so they could hand out the awards. The awards ceremony could only be described as quick and dirty. To those of you who have never attended a soap box derby banquet before, I assure you that we usually put on a better show. But we were out of there by 9:50, and it was an event we will all remember--but perhaps not fondly.

AND THE WINNERS WERE...

Devin Hawkins followed in her Uncle Andrew's footsteps by winning the Stock Division. Jerry Edwards broke the curse that the KC track held on him by winning the Super Stock Division. Congratulations to both drivers!

FIRST ANNUAL COWTOWN SHOWDOWN

Our first annual Cowtown Showdown Rally on July 3rd and 4th drew over 40 cars--our largest rally in several years. No doubt this was due to our newly resurfaced track. Those who had been avoiding KC because the track was too rough and others who simply wanted to try out the new surface were all drawn to the event. Here are the results:

ALL-AMERICAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

By winning in their divisions at our All-American Local Race, Devin Hawkins and Jerry Edwards went on to represent Kansas City at the World Championship Race on July 24th. But racing at the All-American World Championships is much more than a one day event. The race week begins on Monday with the Champ welcome. Cars are fine tuned and everyone weighs in. For the first time ever, the champs were allowed to take two practice runs By winning in their divisions at our All-American Local Race, Devin Hawkins and Jerry down the hill. Some of the fun events of the week included attending an Akron Aeros baseball game. (The Aeros are a double-A minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.) There was a bowling night and a Sluggers & Putters event that included go-karts, bumper cars, mini golf, and water boats. Before going to Akron many of the Champs made buttons with their pictures on them. One night during the week is set aside for button trading. Jerry traded for about 70 buttons. Devin got almost 200 buttons from fellow racers, including the 4 racers from outside the US.

Unfortunately, neither one of our KC racers won a heat. At the AA World Championships a heat consists of one trip down the hill (no lane changes or wheel changes) so the race ended pretty abruptly for them. Still, Jerry said the race was his favorite event of the week. The parade before the race and the experience of going down the hill on race day are things he will always remember. One of the more interesting events of race day was watching film crews tape races for the upcoming soap box derby movie that Corbin Bernson is making to benefit the All-American Soap Box Derby. Devin's dad, Michael, said they still had a great time even though they only raced one time down the hill. Jerry's dad, Jon, said that it was "really cool to see how the kids got treated." (All the racers are called champs and are treated that way.)

The winners were Morgan Champagne, Dover, NH in the Masters Division; Tucker McClaran, Salem, OR in the Super Stock Division; and Megan Gongaware, Akron Suburban, OH in the Stock Division. Rally winners were Michael Morawski, Guilderland, NY in the Masters Division, Sean Brown, Spotsylvania, VA in the Super Stock Division; and Ricky Desens, Webster, NY in the Stock Division.

NDR NATIONALS

This year the NDR Nationals were held in Akron, OH immediately following the All-American Championships. This allowed many families who were already in Akron to stay and attend the Nationals without putting any more miles on their cars. Also, many who did not qualify for the AA Championship Race, but who planned to attend Nationals, could come a day early to watch the AA event. Racers can qualify in many different ways to attend the Nationals, but one of the easiest ways is by participating in 4 NDR Rallies around the country.

Many die-hard soap box derby fans call the Nationals the 'real race' because it involves lane and wheel swaps. However this means that all week long cars are racing to qualify to get into the final heats on Saturday (August 1st, this year). This year there were 169 participants in the Nationals, including Jerry Edwards, Shannon and Aaron Kennedy, and Scott Richardson from the Kansas City area.

Betsy Smith, 16, of Sonora, CA, won the flat-bottom Master's event; 18-year-old Kristi Murphy of Mentor, OH won the round-bottom Master's competition; Brooke Wallace, 20, of Muncie, IN won the Super Stock Division; and Bryanna Plog, 13, of Omaha, NE took the Stock Car Division. Scott Richardson took 5th place in the Super Stock Division. Way to go, Scottie!

RALLY AUGUST 21 & 22

TOWN HALL MEETING

MORE RACING SEPT. 18 & 19

NEW TRACK OPENING MARKED BY RIBBON-CUTTING AND RAIN

AND THE WINNERS WERE...

FIRST ANNUAL COWTOWN SHOWDOWN

ALL-AMERICAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

NDR NATIONALS

UPCOMING REGIONAL RACING EVENTS