Drew Meyer, 9, took his first ride down the soap box derby track at Ben Hawes Park when he was just 7.
“I was really nervous,” Drew said. “Then I thought this is really fun. And when I got to the bottom I ran over a squirrel! I was like, is that supposed to happen every time?”
Drew’s mom, Melissa Meyer, confirms he did in fact hit a squirrel, making him famous among the soap box derby community. “Any time people come for races, they know who he is and the fact that he is the squirrel kid,” Melissa said.
“That’s why I have my lucky squirrel!” Drew said in reference to the squirrel on the side of his car. “They call me the Rally Squirrel!”
Drew started slowly racing his soap box car in races at the Owensboro track. But this year year he branched out and raced in Bowling Green, bringing home second place. Not long after that second-place win, Drew took first place in the last rally race in Owensboro. He needs just two more points to make it to Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio, home of the FirstEnergy All American Soap Box Derby in July. This is a week-long racing event, where kids come from around the world to race.
Melissa says Drew will get those last two points, but they are all hoping he will win the local race and he will get to travel to Akron as the local champion too. “We have our finger crossed for that,” Melissa said.
Although the competition is significant part of Drew’s love for the sport, it’s not all that keeps him racing.
“He loves the fact that it is a competitive sport, but everyone is so supportive of each other,” Melissa said. “If you come to a race, you will hear kids really supporting one another. The race families are really tight and support each other. They were supportive when Drew took first place because they have watched him go from last place and keep building his way up. That sense of community is really awesome.”
As a mom, Melissa says soap box racing has taught her son a lot of valuable life lessons he may not have learned as easily in other sports. “It has really taught Drew to communicate and also to listen to what someone is telling him,” Melissa said. “And not get upset. A lot of time kids get up set think that you are criticizing them, but he’s finally realizing that if he listens to the little advice that his dad or another racer gives him, it’s going to pay off.”
Drew’s dad, Josh Meyer, says he enjoys spending time with his son, not only on race days, but also at home working on his car.
“He and his dad have gotten very close during this,” Melissa said. “They are constantly working on his car.”
Because the Owensboro track is so steep, each race is determined by thousandths of seconds.
“You have to focus,” Drew said. “You can’t be distracted by anything on the track. I get back far enough and get down low. If you’re just sitting there the wind is going to push against you and it’s going to pull you back. But if you get down low it’s going to ease off your head.”
Josh says that Owensboro Lion’s Club always wants more kids. A soap box car kit costs about $500 for car and $100 for the wheels. But Josh says the Lion’s Club has a number of spare cars available for kids to borrow.
“We need more kids!” Drew said with excitement.