ONTARIO- The North Central Ohio Soap Box Derby Champions continued rolling as they took on the All American Soap Box Derby in Akron last Saturday.
Sisters Briella and Juliana Van Harlingen shined bright, both performing well over the weekend.
Briella, NCO’s stock champion, finished 4th place at The All American.
The 13-year-old from Ontario had some nerves going into the races, but kept steady through the support of her parents and sisters.
The nerves were definitely present for Briella, who was racing in the All-American Derby for the first time. The young racer and her dad studied the track and observed the other races to figure out what the best strategies for winning would be.
“Me and my dad are a team,” Briella said.
The NCO Super Stock division winner, Juliana, took home “Best Design” for the weekend.
“I had a birthday party with cherries, bows, and disco balls, and I wanted my car to have the same theme,” the 10-year-old commented.
The sisters said the whole family is involved with the derby, as dad helps build the cars and mom helps decorate them.
The Van Harlingen family got into the world of Soap Box racing in 2018. They were downtown getting doughnuts when they stopped to watch the races on Main Street. They joined the races the next year when Layla, their oldest daughter, was old enough to race.
“We were completely new to the racing scene and the entire soap box community was super helpful and welcoming to us,” Mandy Van Harlingen said.
While all three of her daughters have shown their success in Soap Box Derby, there is still a fair amount of uneasiness that comes with watching them race down a hill at almost 30 MPH.
“It’s nerve wracking, but I want them to be proud of themselves when they’re racing,” Mrs. Van Harlingen said.