Youngsters Showcased in Clayton Labor Day Derby

The Labor Day Derby was one of two events held this past Saturday in downtown Clayton, the second being the Labor Day Car Show held just down the street.

With Main Street shut down and lined with hay bales, contestants donned helmets and vied for trophies in three age groups. 

The first mistake I made was referring to the event as a soap box derby. Mike Fossan, founder of Clayton's derby, explained to me that this event is not affiliated with the All American Soap Box Derby and this is the reason why it's called the Clayton Labor Day Derby.

Sponsored by the Clayton Community Church and the Insurance Management Corporation, the event has grown from 75 contestants to over 250 in its eighth year. 

Microphone in hand, Clayton Community Church Pastor Shawn Robinson,was the master of ceremony.

While the event is not affiliated with the All American Soap Box Derby, “the cars are official Soap Box Derby cars,” said Fossan. Local businesses sponsor individual cars, which range in cost from $600 to $700. Each car is then made unique by the sponsor with decals and paint jobs.

“Some sponsors have gotten very competitive with custom paint jobs,” chuckled Fossan.

The Derby had three age groups, 11-13, 9-10, and 7-8. Contestants in each group raced in two heats and their times were recorded. The fastest three drivers were awarded a trophies.

If a child isn't entered in the competition, the derby accepts “walk-on drivers” who are allowed to race in one non-competitive heat.

“We used to race the younger kids first, but they wreck more often and we were damaging too many cars early in the day. So we moved the younger kids to the last group,” Fossan said laughingly.

The competition started at 9 a.m. and finished around 2:30 p.m. Main Street in Clayton is slightly sloped from east to west. To help the children get a little more speed, a special ramp with a retracting starting gate was constructed and donated by contractor Dave Gray of Clayton.

Once released from the ramp, the cars roll down Main Street to the finish line near Diablo Street. Bales of hay provide a safe cushion for drivers who lose control of their car.

And they do wreck.

With sound bites of screeching tires and sirens playing over the public address system, drivers who stuff it into a hay bale are promptly rescued by yellow-shirted race team volunteers and given a push to get them rolling back to the finish line.

Damaged derby cars are hauled off to the repair station behind the starting gates, where they are given proper attention and placed back into the lineup.

Behind the bales, the curbs were lined with cheering parents and relatives supporting the child/drivers in their quest for low speed and glory.

During the six-hour event, families snacked on hot dogs, snow cones and other treats offered by food vendors and restaurants, which not only sponsored cars but opened early for the event.

I went for an egg, bacon and cheese sandwich for breakfast served by Canesa’s Brooklyn Deli. Later, my family and I stopped by Skipolini’s Pizza, which opened early to sell pizza by the slice for lunch.

One slice was not enough to satisfy our Skipolini’s fix. We ended up taking home a pizza for dinner.

And the drivers who took the checkered flag were:

Age group 11-13:

First Place — Tyler Clemons

Second Place — Nathaniel Mitchell

Third Place — Leonardo Rodriguez

Age group 9-10:

First Place — Nicholas Stelchek

Second Place — Lucas Lauricella

Third Place — Eric Scenasi

Age group 7-8:

First Place — Max Faerber

Second Place —Place Samantha Romero

Third Place — Tom Sanchez