I awoke shortly before the 5:15 alarm. I had to get up early to get ready for the Indian Valley Soap Box Derby, run by the Indian Valley Soap Box Association, in which MA (11) and JA (9) are racing and in which I'll be a pit crew member. I had never been involved with a soap box derby until today. KA's father, RoA, raced as a kid and has been the main man behind MA and JA's entries this year and last year. He was also the main man behind KA's sister KN's kids AN (15) and BN's (12) entries. I had a bowl of Kellogg's Raisin Bran and drank a 20 fl oz (591ml) bottle of Coca Cola Classic to get my caffeine fix for the day. KA's mother, RaA, picked up MA, JA, and me to take us ...

To the Souderton Borough Building by 6:30 where the soap box cars had been impounded in the garage. They were impounded on Wednesday evening after passing inspection. The first thing to do this morning was to weigh the cars. MA and JA were racing Stock Division cars, and the total weight of the car and driver had to be 200 lb (90.7kg) and the tail weight (weight born by the rear wheels) had to be below a certain value. Because the tail weight was checked only once throughout the day, and I was mostly a grunt, I didn't catch the weight. AN and BN were racing Super Stock Division cars, and the total weight was 230 lb (104.3kg). RoA assigned me to be MA's pit member, a friend of his D to be JA's pit member, AN's uncle KrN to be her pit member, and BN's father KeN to be his pit member. MA passed the weight check with no problems, and I helped load her car onto a specially built trailer to have the car hauled to the pit area at the top of the hill. The trailers carried four cars perpendicular to the road. The cars were supported by rubber rails along the side of the trailer, the wheels dangled in the air, and one bungee cord helped hold each car down. I think four trailers were used. MA and I climbed into the bed of the pickup truck that was towing the trailer, and after four cars were on the trailer, and their drivers and pit members were in the truck, we were driven ...

To the pit area at the top of the hill on Main Street in Souderton around 8:00. All four of RoA's cars were next to each other in the pit area which was nice. We also had one of the prime pit areas — the south side of a side road in the shadow of a building just on the other side of the sidewalk — we'd have shade! We waited for all of the cars to arrive in the pit area. There was lots of hurry-up-and-wait today.

There was a driver's meeting at 9:20 where the main coordinator of the derby explained how things would work. Two cars go down the hill at the same time, and each race is made up of two runs down the hill. The winner of the race is determined by the shortest combined time down the track for the two runs. Before the first run, one of the drivers picks a token out of a jar to determine if the left-front and right-rear or the right-front and left-rear tires are switched between the cars because a car never runs a race with a complete set of its own wheels. The wheels were held on by a washer and a hairpin cotter pin, so it was easy to change them. After the wheels are swapped, then the car is moved into line behind the starting ramp. When the ramp is clear, the car is move onto the ramp and aligned to get it headed towards the desired side of the lane. The driver gets in, and when both drivers area ready and the track is clear, then the starter hits a button that releases a paddle that had been holding the cars in place and also starts an electronic timing process. The cars roll down the hill, the pit member puts the start paddle back up, and the next racers move onto the starting ramps. After the cars reach the bottom of the hill, volunteers (firefighters in this case) load the cars back onto the trailers and the cars and drivers get driven back to the top of the hill. There were six tires to act as stands near the off-load area where the cars were placed to swap all four wheels between the two opposing cars. So, now your car would be running with the other two of its original wheels. Then the car is moved over to the starting ramp, and these "phase two" drivers have precedence over the "phase one" drivers who haven't gone down yet against that round's opponent. Same procedure on the ramp, down the hill, and back up the hill. This time when the cars are put on the tires, two wheels are swapped with your opponent so you have all of your wheels back, then you go to your pit and wait. For subsequent races, your car and driver are weighed before each race, and the checking is done by the two teams themselves. So, you'd each bring your car and driver over to the scale, weigh one and if the other team said you're OK, then you're good to go. RoA did all of the weight changes for MA's and JA's car, and I assume for AN's and BN's too.

MA "won" her first run down the hill, but before she could make her phase two run, another driver crashed into the timing system at the bottom of the hill. So, MA had to redo her phase one run and then do a phase two run. She won her first race, and I was so happy for her because she has been struggling in other areas of her life. It was great to see her win! She had a bye in the second round, so it was a long wait until she raced again. She did well the rest of the day, better than her brother and cousins, and almost placed. It was a long and tiring day of lifting and moving cars (not just MA's, but other cars off the trailer at the top of the hill) and it was hot! It was about 90°F (32°C) with about 60% humidity. The shade in our pit area really helped, but it only lasted until about 1:30. After that, I stood in the shade in other areas.

MA was done racing by 3:00 and we packed up the four soap box cars, two each in RoA's and KN's minivans. It was nice to ride in RoA's air conditioned mini van ...

To RoA's place where we unloaded the soap box cars. KA picked up MA, JA, and me and took us ...

To KA's place around 4:25 where we'd have about an hour and a half to clean up before going to the soap box derby banquet. Let me tell you, it was great to take a shower! After we had cleaned up, I played Wii Super Mario Bros with MA and JA. JA's a wizard at the game and helped keep us all alive.

We went to the Franconia Heritage Restaurant around 6:00 for the banquet. Only a few people were there when we arrived, so we waited. There had been three crashes during the race, so the race day went longer than expected. The coordinators finally started to arrive around 7:00 and the food service began around 7:10. It was a buffet with cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, baked beans, potato salad, and Caesar salad. Desserts were provided by the participants, and brownies and cookies were popular. The awards ceremony started around 8:00, and we left around 8:50.

We returned to KA's and waited for my mother to pick me up.

I returned to my mother's apartment around 9:45 and checked email. Then we worked on a jigsaw puzzle for a while.