Off to the races

Tyne Valley native heads to Ohio Soap Box Championship

A family of nine had to fight for spots in the van when they headed to Ohio Friday morning.

Bradley Hardy, 13, has his sights set high on the downhill slope he hopes to conquer at the Ohio Soapbox Derby on July 29 during the derby’s 80th anniversary run.

“The hill is so big,” noted

Hardy.

However, the young driver is confident he can win and isn’t nervous about the competition.

The soapbox event involves a car that isn’t motorized, relying entirely on gravity to pull them to the finish line.

The All-American style car Hardy drives is sponsored by the P.E.I. Bag Company. Trevor Smith, who is with the company, is excited about Hardy’s big trip too.

“He’ll like the crowd,” said Smith about the young driver.

The event is huge, bringing crowds that fill the 6,000 seats surrounding the soapbox track.

Closer to home, Tyne Valley’s own Soap Box Derby will kick off the Oyster Festival at the end of the month. These races include two different styles of cars. Rod MacNeill of West Isle Enterprises in Tyne Valley refers to these as big or small cars.

While they’re thought of as the big cars, the All-American style is a small sleek car, while the ‘small’ cars have all the room for creativity.

West Isle Enterprises sells the base for the small cars, and the rest is up to the racer. There are around 80 of these cars that compete in the P.E.I. race.

Both the big and small cars are set to race July 29 in Tyne Valley for the seventh annual soap box races, the same day Hardy competes in Ohio.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Bradley Hardy, shown in his Soap Box Derby car, is ready to race it in the Ohio International Championships on July 29.

ALYSHA CAMPBELL/JOURNAL PIONEER Bradley Hardy is shown with Trevor Smith from the P.E.I. Bag Company, the car’s sponsor. The car Hardy will be racing is already on its way to Ohio where the International Championships are held.