Brady Starkey's first All-American Soap Box Derby race began as a gloomy morning full of rain and disappointment, but it ended with bright sunshine and a chorus of cheers.
Brady and his grandfather, Bob Rankin, spent a few weeks prior to the event preparing for the day.
Bob and Brady picked up a pre-owned derby car from a family friend to run in the race, held June 14. After taking it apart, rebuilding it, and adding Brady's name to the side of the car, the pair readied the soap box racer to be checked, weighed, and stored at VanGuard CNC Laser Cutting Inc. in Mantua to await this day.
Race day arrived and participants began to gather at the finish line on East High Street in Mantua. After a short rain delay, family and friends of the young racers helped set up bumpers and straw bales and dry off the race track with leaf blowers. Racers got their team photo and a brief drivers meeting conducted by Bob Sovil, president of the Portage County Soap Box Derby.
Moments before his first race, Brady, his grandfather and his cousin, Brandon, loaded their car onto a trailer for the short ride to the starting line. Brady's excitement mounted. He took a few deep breaths and the gate dropped! A few seconds pass and he's crossed the finish line, winning the first run. Brady crawled out of the car to begin the process again.
Brady's mother, Patty, said for Brady and Bob this day is special. The pair bonded at Brady's birth nine years ago. Brady was a sickly infant, and Bob, at the time a recent retiree, had too much time on his hands so he spent many of Brady's earliest days with the boy, developing a relationship which has blossomed into a strong bond between grandfather and grandson.
Since Brady's father's death last August, Bob has been even more involved and concerned with his grandson's well being and felt the race might be a fun and distracting activity with Father's Day falling on the same weekend.
After his first race win, Brady's confidence was shattered during the second run when he hit some cones and the timer and, as a result, was disqualified.
Despite the crash, Brady was still allowed to compete in the losers bracket, but he wasn't sure if he felt up to it. After some coaching from Grandpa and some encouraging words from mom, Brady was back in the race. Several victories later Brady made a huge comeback to place 5th out of 31 racers.
Cheers, high fives and bright smiles abounded. His grandfather gave him a hug and asked Brady, "What's the lesson?"
"Don't hit cones and a timer ..." Brady replied.
"No, no," his grandfather said. "Don't quit because of a little bit of adversity, stick with it. Ya know, jump up and climb back on and keep going, buddy."
He chuckled. "You did good, Brady."