Thousands to expected to cheer on racers in Magnolia Soapbox Derby

The 220-foot run down Magnolia Street will once again play host to a day of racing Saturday as the Magnolia Soapbox Derby returns even bigger in its eighth year.

"Feats of speed, science, creativity and community" is the tagline for this year's soapbox derby race, which will feature high schooler's racing in a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) gravity race, adults competing in the "Shadetree" and "Professional" categories and kids on Big Wheels.

"It's grown from just a crazy idea on a front porch, essentially almost a block party ... to last year is the first year we've done the STEM race and brought in high school kids," said Chris Nylund, co-chair of this year's event. "That's been a huge expansion in my mind."

"I'm a librarian but I was a teacher for 10 years. The adult race is cool and that's always been kind of the hallmark, but bringing in the STEM race has been really cool," he said.

There also will be food trucks, nonprofit vendors and music from DJ Shawty Slim and DJ Bruce Wonder.

Coincidentally, the event will hearken back to an earlier time in Macon's history.

"Last year I just on a whim decided to research the history of the soapbox derby in Macon because I'd heard old-timers talk about soapbox derby and that it's been in Macon before," Nylund said. "I looked it up and the first soapbox derby in Macon was actually held in 1936 and they raced down Forsyth Street."

The races stopped in the early 1940s because of the war but were revived again in the late '40s only to end again in the 1950s. Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Ed DeFore brought it back in the late '80s and early '90s, Nylund said. Old news articles include accounts of more than 20,000 people lining Emory Highway to watch the races.

"All of those were kid races, so us bringing the high school races, we kind of inadvertently linked it back to the beginning," Nylund said.

The day kicks off at 10 a.m. with the gravity racing practice runs. There will be cars from eight Bibb County schools as well as schools in Monroe, Crawford and Jones counties.

The students all build their cars using the same stock kit and criteria from the All-American Soap Box Derby -- the same Akron, Ohio-based organization that was involved in the older derby races.

"They race the car and then they reverse-engineer the car for next year's program," said Chris Tsavetewa, who is co-chair of the race. "They take the car completely apart and then the next year's class starts with all of the pieces so they are just not racing the same car every year, they are having to start from scratch."

"This is the curriculum. This is physics. This is aerodynamics. The idea for this is that we're building the engineers of tomorrow and the leaders of the future Magnolia Soap Box Derby," Tsavetewa said.

The students will have their official race runs at 11 a.m. with awards at noon.

The adult practice runs will start after the noon student awards, and those races will take place at 2 p.m.

More than 30 adult entries will compete between the "Shadetree" group of backyard builders and community organizations and the "Professional" group of engineers and serious racers, Tsavetewa said.

Kids also can get in on the competition with the Big Wheel races at 1 p.m.

Nearly 4,500 people came out to Washington Park for last year's race, Tsavetewa said.

"It waxes and wanes throughout the day, but we're really trying to come earlier than usual to see the high school race," he said. "Bring your blankets and your chairs."

Magnolia Soapbox Derby

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. April 9

Where: Washington Park on Magnolia Street, downtown Macon

Cost: Free

Information: www.maconderby.com

Race schedule

10 a.m.: High school STEM gravity race practice runs

11 a.m.: Gravity race

Noon: Gravity race awards followed by the adult division practice runs

1 p.m.: Big Wheel races for the kids

2 p.m.: Adult races

4 p.m.: Adult race awards

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Thousands to expected to cheer on racers in Magnolia Soapbox Derby ."