Seventy-five young racers sped down the track and zipped past the finish line at Arrowhead Ranch on Camano Island Saturday, June 14, as friends and family cheered from the sidelines.

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The event — started by Marla and Randy Heagle in 2008 — has grown into the second-largest soap box event in the country.

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Marla Heagle said that throughout the years, more than 1,000 kids have built and raced a car in the event.

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The Heagles built the track at Arrowhead Ranch in 2018, and since then, have done continuous renovations to improve the event.

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Improvements have included a tunnel for easy access, raising the starting line by four feet to increase speed, adding a silo tower for the scorekeepers and announcer, building a structure for the finish line banner and timing system, new trailers, and redoing painted stripes on the track.

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“Each year we try to make improvements to the track and facility,” Marla Heagle said in an email.

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Marla Heagle said that besides the thrill of competition and learning the skills of sportsmanship, kids who participate in the race benefit from gaining knowledge in science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

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“Kids learn how to follow written instructions, to build something with their own hands, what all the different parts are and what they do, same with the tools,” she said. “We believe that more hands-on and less screen time is good for some kids.”

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She said some of the original racers from the early days have gone on to be pilots, rocket scientists, submarine engineers, professional race car drivers, Olympic athletes and more.

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At Saturday’s event, though, kids had their eye on the prize: making it to the championship races in Akron, Ohio.

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Winners of the stock, super stock and masters divisions will have their cars shipped to Ohio to compete at the All-American Soap Box Derby.

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The stock division is for racers ages 7-13, super stock is for ages 9-18 and masters is for ages 10-20.

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“It’s a big deal, and the kids go back with a mentor and a parent, and they have a whole derby week there,” Stanwood-Camano Soap Box Derby announcer Ed Bednarczyk said in an interview with SC News.

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“It’s the Super Bowl of soap box derby racing.”

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Bednarczyk said he’s been involved with soap box derbies for many years. He began in Culpeper, Virginia.

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“Randy (Heagle) talked to me about it, he said, ‘I want to bring something to the community,’” Bednarczyk said. “And I said, ‘Well, you know I’ve had experience with that,’ and he said, ‘Would you do it with me?’ and I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

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Bednarczyk said he’s enjoyed watching the event grow throughout the years, bringing the community together and racers in from out of town.

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“It’s really come into its own with a lot of hard work,” he said. “As kids age out, get too old, we get new families involved, and that’s what keeps things going.”

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He also stressed the importance of the event’s many sponsors, saying it couldn’t be done without them.

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This year, he wanted to pay homage to an Indianapolis-500 tradition, where winners receive a cold bottle of milk.

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He approached Camano Island Creamery, which produces raw milk, and asked them to sponsor the winner’s circle event at the end of the race.

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“Every kid who participates will get a small bottle of milk with some etching on it, the logo of the derby,” he said. “And then the three winners will do the whole celebration at the winner’s circle at the end of the race by drinking the milk.”

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Additional information, including how to begin, where to purchase a car kit and available educational resources, can be found at stanwoodcamanoisland.soapboxderby.org.

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This year’s winners

Stock Division: Raea Saylor

Super Stock Division: Ben Grabski

Masters Division: Lily Swanson

Harry Brown Sportsmanship Award: Truly Miller

Billy Miracle Mechanics Award: Benji Snyde

Pat Richardson Positive Impact Award: Myra Reinhardt