For more than seven decades, the Wilbur Shaw Memorial Soap Box Derby Hill has served as a place for Indianapolis families with the need for speed to get their thrills.
The 1,000-foot hill on West 20th Street near Marian University is the country’s longest track. At the city park, drivers climb into aerodynamic fiberglass cars on top of the hill and harness the power of gravity to get to the bottom as fast as possible.
Indianapolis Soap Box Derby racers go downhill at speeds of more than 30 miles per hour — fast enough to get a speeding ticket in some parts of the city.
Racers meet at the hill several times a year for races. They accrue points at the events that allow some to compete at the national level — the Soap Box Derby World Championships in Akron, Ohio.
For 13-year old Shelton Taylor, soap box racing is in his blood. His great uncle was a soap box racer, but Taylor didn’t become involved in the sport until a fateful drive past the Wilbur Shaw Hill.
“Me and my mom were driving past the track, and we saw a whole bunch of people just coming down the track. She asked me if I wanted to do it. I said, ‘Yeah,’ so she did a U-turn to the top of the gate,” Taylor said.
Taylor signed up, learned how to race and a few years later became the Indianapolis 2024 All American Super Stock Challenge champion, the first African American to do so.
His father, Marvin Taylor, sees soap box derby racing as a family sport.
“It’s a good sport for young kids to get involved in,” Marvin Taylor said. “It’s something different than basketball or soccer. It’s just like the Indy 500 without an engine.”
It’s not just Indianapolis families that come to the hill. Families from around the Midwest and the South make the trip to Indianapolis’ west side to compete.
The Weaver family makes the trek from Owensboro, Kentucky several times a year.
The kids, 12-year-old Melanie and 13-year-old Brandon, drive the cars — and parents Eddie and Effie act as the pit crew.
“We quickly realized it’s a family sport. It’s one of the only sports where parent involvement is critical. It’s like you’re a team with your child,” said Effie Weaver.
For the driver, racing is a thrill. They go down the hill with their heads tucked in to increase speed. They control the car through a pulley system found inside the frame. Drivers only expose a small bit of their face to reduce drag. As a result, they can only see a small portion of track ahead of them and must plan their moves ahead of time.
“At first, I was like, ‘So you’re telling me I’m going down a hill in a plastic car with a wood bottom, and you’re expecting me to trust that,’” said Melanie Weaver. “It’s fun, but at the same time it’s a little stressful.”
More experienced racers drive sleek cars, called Masters Cars, where they essentially drive lying on their back. They wear a helmet that reduces wind resistance but leaves only a small crack between the bottom of the helmet and the top of the car frame through which the driver can see.
Haughville resident William Pickens, 16, drives a Masters Car, but his 6-foot, 2-inch tall frame has to slowly squeeze into a car designed for, at most, a 6-foot-tall child.
“My feet do hit the end of the car, but it’s not that bad,” Pickens said.
The sport is open to children and young adults ages 7 to 20. Indianapolis Soap Box Derby director Bob Getts said the association helps families get into the sport by having cars that families can use to start racing.
“We have more cars than kids right now, and we try to make it easy for families to try and see if it’s something for them,” he said. “We get them in one of our cars, let them get the thrill of the hill and see where it goes from there.”
Car prices range from $700 to $1,500, but the association helps racers find sponsors to defray the cost.
The International Soap Box Derby, the Indianapolis association’s parent organization, also has a program for children with disabilities called the Super Kids League. The league uses two-seat, dual-control derby cars that pairs kids with an experienced co-pilot to compete.
Join the Indianapolis Soap Box Derby
To learn more about the Indianapolis Soap Box Derby, head to the association’s website or call 317-446-5462.
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Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.
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