Soap Box Derby Champions Will Earn RIT Scholarships

More than 100 youngsters will vie for five $5,000 scholarships to Rochester Institute of Technology at the eighth annual Greater Rochester Soap Box Derby this Saturday and Sunday, June 1-2.

Boys and girls, 9- to 17-years-old, will race from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday on Lakeshore Boulevard in Rochester. The race, part of the national All-American Soap Box Derby, is one of the largest in the country.

Top finishers in each of five divisions—two stock, two super-stock and masters—will earn RIT scholarships and compete in world championships in Akron, Ohio, in July.

A celebrity race at noon on Saturday will feature local dignitaries including Monroe County Executive Jack Doyle, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn, and police chiefs from the towns of Greece and Irondequoit.

"It’s my favorite weekend of the year," says Mark Scuderi, president of the 45th Greater Rochester Soap Box Derby.

The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton, Ohio, in 1934. Rochester’s derby restarted in 1995 after a 20-year absence.

Sponsors of the Greater Rochester Soap Box Derby include RIT, Chase-Pitkin, Wegmans and Monroe County. National competition is sponsored by International Soap Box Derby Inc. and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.