RCS Derby driver makes top 10

By Anthony Heusel | Manor Ink

Akron, OH – The International Soap Box Derby race is here! People from all over America, Japan and Canada have come to race in Akron, OH, for the annual championship. Livingston Manor’s Emma Gaebel, an 11th grader in Rockland Central School, competed this year, bringing home a ninth place finish out of 300 participants.

“I was really scared the first time I went down the hill on check-in day,” she said, because there was so much on the line.

The International Derby takes place in Akron every July. Racers need to go through many steps to get to the International competition. First off, they need to build their own soap box car. They either build their car through their school’s Tech Club, or on their own. The car’s weight must meet exact limits and its wheels should measure to within two hundredths of a millimeter, no exceptions!

Then, you have to win your local race, which Gaebel did in the Sullivan County qualifier races in Liberty this past June. After that, you have to transport your car all the way to Akron and again have it weighed and measured to ensure a fair competition.

To move on to the championship race in Akron, you need to get a high ranking spot in the first two races. Heat winners get a spot in the most important final race.

One of Gaebel’s heats was so close, they had to analyze a photograph of the finish for many minutes. But she was able to conquer all of these steps to get to the championship race where she placed ninth overall. “I didn’t think I would do that good,” Gaebel said, excited by finishing in the top ten.

Emma Gaebel wasn’t the only one from Sullivan County to find success in Akron. Liberty’s Ava Diehl was able to place second in the International race.