Stanwood-Camano is home to first- and second-place world champions of the International Soap Box Derby rally stock division.

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The Millers and the Saylors, a blended family of six children and their parents, traveled from Camano Island to Akron, Ohio, to race in the 88th annual derby on July 18 and returned home with champions.

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Thirteen-year-old Amos Miller won first place in the division, and 10-year-old Raea Saylor won second place.

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The whole family raced in the derby, including 15-year-old Leonidas Saylor, 13-year-old Maximos Saylor, 11-year-old Truly Miller and 8-year-old Ira Miller.

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Molly Swanson from Camano Island also competed and placed fourth in the local super stock division.

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The Millers explained in an interview with SC News how kids are chosen to compete on the international track.

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The first way is by winning in a local race, such as the one hosted at Arrowhead Ranch on June 20. That’s how Truly was selected.

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She beat her brother Amos by .002 seconds.

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The second way is by participating in multiple regional races, also hosted at Arrowhead Ranch throughout the year, and coming out with the most points.

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Truly also earned the most regional points, but since she was also the local champ, Amos secured a spot, too.

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In Akron, Truly placed fifth in the local stock division. Ira also participated in the rally stock division with his siblings.

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Maximos participated in the rally super stock division, and Leonidas in the rally masters division.

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Amos said he got into racing three years ago, through friends in Scouting America.

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“I went over to work on their cars with them, and their dad, Mike, asked if I wanted to go down the track,” he said.

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Mike is Mike Saylor, father to Leonidas, Maximos and Raea and owner of Stilly River Mechanical, who sponsored Amos’ future cars.

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Amos said Mike Saylor has helped him build his cars, along with his mom, Alissa Miller.

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He said he’s enjoyed learning the rules of car building and using them to his advantage to make faster models.

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“We discovered that we could cut off a little bit of the shell to make it fit my back farther back,” he said, explaining that lying lower makes for a speedier ride.

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The Millers said the day of the race brought some hiccups, such as severe smoke from wildfires and a sudden downpour of rain right after the races were done.

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International Soap Box Derby Public Relations Chair Bob Troyer said in an interview with SC News that he’s never seen conditions like that in his 50 years of involvement.

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“We normally take ceremonial photographs, and we present ceremonial trophies and that kind of thing on the track, but we couldn’t do that,” he said.

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“They got everybody up into a warehouse kind of building where we keep all the cars, and ... the power went out up there so they couldn’t do it up there either.”

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The show must go on, and he said an awards show was hosted at a downtown theater in Akron.

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Troyer is a lifelong soapbox fan and started racing when he was 12 in Kent, Ohio.

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Back in the day, he said, the event was put on with the help of local newspapers. His father was the editor of the county newspaper in Portage County, Ohio, and also served as the race director.

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“I worked at the paper when I was in high school and college, and one of the things I did was promote the soapbox derby,” he said, adding that he went on to start volunteering for the derby.

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Through the years, Troyer said, he’s enjoyed seeing racers work alongside their families.

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“I’m not knocking other sports, but if your child is involved in soccer or baseball, you can drop the child off and go back and pick them up in three hours; you can’t do that with the derby, because even a 13-year-old, let alone a 7-year-old, can’t lift the car,” he said.

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“It’s that bonding time that the young people have when they work with their father or mother on a car.”

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He said the event also teaches sportsmanship, craftsmanship and creates lasting relationships; he reconnected with a champion from 50 years ago at this year’s race.

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The Millers echoed Troyer’s comments about learning to build and making new friends, and of course the most important thing: “You get to go fast,” Amos said.

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The siblings thanked Randy and Marla Heagle, owners of Arrowhead Ranch and coordinators of all soapbox races that happen there.

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The Heagles said that when they built the track in 2018, they never would have imagined sending kids to the championship.

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“It was really a dream, and Randy said, ‘The only thing I’d love to see out of building this track is someday a racer goes from here and wins in Akron,’” Marla Heagle said.

“At that point, it was a huge impossibility.”

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Bella Siddle from Camano Island went on to win the championship in 2023, and now Amos joins that list.

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The Heagles noted the amount of community participation the event has fostered.

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”We’re grateful for the time their families have invested,” Marla Heagle said of all the racers. “It’s a lot of energy, time, finances for the families to do this, and we’re just very proud and grateful.”

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The couple is looking forward to next year, which will mark the 20th anniversary of putting on the annual race on Camano Island.

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”This is small town America at its finest,” Randy Heagle said. “It’s all the companies, all the people that get involved to make this thing happen; it’s pretty amazing ... it takes a village.”