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Racers gear up for Soap Box Derby By Nancy Lowry The New Castle area will be represented in every phase of racing at the 67th annual All-American Soap Box Derby on Saturday. Four local representatives will be among the nearly 500 competitors from 43 states and three foreign countries. Loralei Gallaher, 14, of Beaver Falls, the most experienced of the participants, represented New Castle in 2002 as the super stock champion and drove the course in 2003 as a rally champion. She also went to Akron in 2001 to cheer on her sister, Rochelle, the New Castle super stock champion that year. Loralei, piloting her purple �Daddy�s Nightmare� master class car, had to search for a qualifying race because last month�s local event did not include a master division. Ultimately, she raced in Youngstown, where seven master class cars competed. She received a proclamation from Youngstown City Council, identifying her as a city champion. Yesterday, she joined the city�s other champions for a limousine ride to Akron. She and her father, Bob, co-director of the New Castle race, are spending the week in Akron. Her mom, Lynn, will join them on Thursday. �I�m excited and deciding what to take (to Akron),� she said last week. �My clothes are all over the living room.� Gallaher said there is no strategy to winning in Akron. �It depends on your wheels and your lane,� she said. �I tell people just have fun with it.� This is the advice she gave to stock champion Marissa Mroczynski, 9, of Beaver. �I told her you won�t even notice the other cars on race day. You�ll just hear everyone cheering for you.� This was good advice, said Marissa�s mom, Maureen. Packing up her four children � Marissa, Emily, 11, Matthew, 6, and Nicholas, 4� and her husband, Mark, co-director of the New Castle regional race, Maureen Mroczynski was looking forward to spending a week visiting with family who live in the Akron area. The family also is excited about the hotel stays and the whirlwind of activities planned for the local champions. �We�ve gone before to watch. It�s different when you have a champion in your family. It�s a lot more exciting,� she said. �Marissa is really excited.� T.J. Takacs, 13, of Ellwood City, is looking forward to meeting people from around the U.S. and the world. In preparation, he said, he looked over and cleaned his black-and-purple car and made sure it was ready for inspection. All cars racing in Saturday�s event were required to be in Akron by midnight July 18. For the week prior to the deadline, inspectors were on hand 24 hours a day as youngsters within driving distance personally delivered their cars. Entries from farther away were shipped. T.J. said he hadn�t expected to take the title in the super stock division of last month�s New Castle race, but after he did he gained the confidence that he believes will carry him through in Akron. He added that he has spoken with Gallaher and plans to take her advice. �She said have fun with it,� he said. In addition to his parents, Tim and Heidi Takacs of Ellport, and his sister, 16-year-old Heather, T.J. will be cheered on by 15 other family members and friends on Saturday in Akron. Kyle Bair, 13, of Neshannock Township and his dad, Scott, packed up and have been traveling to rally races since last fall in order to qualify to race in Akron. �I kind of missed the excitement after we earned enough points,� Scott said. The father-and-son racing team are spending the week in Akron attending clinics to learn to build and drive master class cars and compete again next year, said Kyle�s mom, Diana. She and daughter, Katelyn, 16, will join the men Thursday. They also attended the opening ceremonies yesterday when the champions were individually introduced. Add a comment  |
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