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The Clearlake 2nd Annual Soap Box Derby will be held September 19th 2020. CLEARLAKE, Calif.

Soap box racers put on the finishing touches on their gravity-powered entries for Clearlake’s inaugural Soap Box Derby that Saturday morning. The city of Clearlake and the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce hosted the family-friendly event, which will took place on the newly constructed Dam Road Extension in Clearlake.

There were two divisions – speed and art. Within the speed division there are the following age groups: the Little Turtles, ages 7 to 12; Turbo Teens, 13 to 17 years of age; Awesome Adults,18 years and older.
In the Art Division, racers were judged on creativity rather than speed on the course. Judges for the Art Division were Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, Clearlake, Police Chief Andrew White, Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce President Denise Loustalot and Clearlake Mayor Russ Cremer.

The derby also featured racing flagger Johnny Miskill, one of the top auto sport flaggers in the United States. Raised in Lake County, Miskill is a fixture at the Lakeport Speedway and also travels to tracks around Northern California and Southern Oregon. “This is about the kids,” said Miskill. “Nothing makes me happier than seeing children engaged at the track, and this is even more exciting because they get to build the cars from scratch and sit behind the wheel.”

While speeds won’t match those at Lakeport Speedway, that doesn’t matter to Miskill. His focus was on safety, fair finishes and teaching the next generation of flaggers the ropes.

The event was free for spectators, who are encouraged to bring chairs to sit along the course. There was food and novelty vendors located near the finish line at Konocti Education Center.

For more information about the derby visit www.clearlakesoapboxderby.com