Update: July 23 — In the Rally Challenge Tuesday, Ryan Locher (in Masters), Addison Locher (in Super Stock), and Zack Gordon (in Stock) each progressed to the second round in their respective races before being eliminated.
Despite hardy efforts, no local racers progressed past the first round in the Local Challenge Series.
After Wednesday’s Local Challenge races concluded, an All-Star race was held. Only 18 cars in each class qualified based on the number of first-place wins during the racing season with a maximum of three from each region.
Owensboro was represented by Brayden Locher in Stock and Halee Jo McDaniel in Super Stock. While both won phases, neither progressed to the next round.
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July 15 — Only 52 Americans qualified for the FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby World Championships taking place next week — and 10 of them are from Owensboro. The youngsters will travel to Akron, Ohio, to compete in the week-long event.
This marks the 83rd year for the event that offers six opportunities for participants to be crowned “World Champions.” Individuals can qualify by winning their local race or by accumulating 600 points in rally races that are hosted across the country.
Representing Owensboro as local champions are Kierra Johnson, Andrew Meyer, and Braden Locher. Local members of the 600-point club that will be competing for the rally race crown include Ryan Locher, Halee Jo McDaniel, Dawson Gordon, Addison Locher, Benji Edds, Zach Gordon, and Sadie Meyer.
The cars will arrive in Akron ahead of the participants so they can undergo an intense inspection to ensure that every component of the cars is identical — including every last nut, bolt, and washer.
The races will begin on Tuesday and Wednesday. Racers will compete in groups of three as opposed to the traditional two at smaller tracks. They will go down the hill three separate times and calculate the average of their times to determine who advances.
