The screech of brakes on the wet pavement reverberated across the finish line.

The screech of brakes on the wet pavement reverberated across the finish line.
By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Soap Box Derby racers carefully draped sheets of plastic over their cars while their parents, grandparents and other relatives huddled under umbrellas and donned ponchos much of Saturday.
Intermittent rain caused several delays at the third annual Greater Youngstown Area Soap Box Derby.
Racing began about 9:30 a.m., an hour later than organizers had planned, said Christy Brown, who has been on the board three years.
Still, Jim Postlethwait, race director, said he hoped to continue the races until at least half of the competitors were eliminated.
Those who remained were to continue racing this morning, weather permitting.
Seventy-one racers competed in three divisions: metro and suburban stock, which have a lighter weight requirement and usually accommodate younger racers (9-, 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds), and super stock, which has a 230-pound combined weight limit for car and driver and usually accommodates racers up to age 16.
This year, 26 racers competed in the super stock division, 24 in the suburban stock division and 21 in the metro stock division.
Because twice as many children compete in the stock division, Postlethwait said it was divided in half -- metro and suburban. That way, the children have a better chance to win, and Youngstown can send two winning stock drivers to compete in the All American Soap Box Derby in Akron later this summer, he said.
The races
Wet pavement during races was problematic for some of the drivers. The slippery road impaired their ability to brake and a handful of cars crossed the finish line, plowed through several rows of bright orange pylons and crashed into a wall of baled straw.
But the rain didn't appear to dampen the spirits of the racers.
Dressed in their official race T-shirts -- many wearing surf shoes or dance slippers that make getting into the tight-fitting cars a bit easier -- the children hovered around their cars in the pit area, a Youngstown State University parking lot, eagerly waiting their turn on the Fifth Avenue hill.
When a volunteer at the bottom of the hill waved a green flag, the racers, positioned atop a ramp at the top of the hill near Arlington Street, were off, whirring past Taco Bell and a YSU parking deck, across Lincoln Avenue, past YSU's new education building and past Joseph E. and Mary B. Smith Hall to the finish line at Rayen Avenue.
"Brakes on!" shouted a volunteer, reminding drivers to apply their brakes as soon as they passed the checkered flag.
The screech of rubber brakes scraping against the street reverberated across the finish line.
Prisoner volunteers
Ten prisoner volunteers from the Mahoning County jail helped the children position their cars at the top of the hill and carried them off the track at the bottom.
When the trucks came around to transport the cars and drivers back to the top of the hill for their next heat, the prisoners loaded the cars onto trailers and strapped them down while the children piled in the bed of the pick-up.
This is the second year misdemeanor offenders have helped out at the race, said John Latronica, a deputy sheriff and administrative servicer for the prisoner volunteer program.
The prisoners enjoy volunteering at the race, Latronica said. "They were up and waiting for me this morning."
"Good job! What a run!" shouted one prisoner to a racer who'd just won phase one of his heat.
Young competitors
A shiny black super stock car with gold and red emblems, including star-shaped badges -- logos for the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department and the DARE program -- sped past the prisoner volunteers at the bottom of the hill, stopping just before the bank of orange cones.
"My dad's a cop," said James Scanlon, 11, of Youngstown, explaining why his car resembles a cruiser. The Mahoning County Sheriff's Department is his sponsor.
Chris Kuhaneck, 12, of Damascus raced against Scanlon in that heat. He was in a blue super stock car sponsored by Sarchione's Auto Sales, Alliance.
Freddie Seitz, 9, of Poland, the first deaf child to compete in the Youngstown Soap Box Derby, was all smiles.
"He's having a blast," said his dad, Fred, who met Freddie at the bottom of the hill to translate directions into sign language.
Chiara Dillard, 14, of Youngstown got to compete in the Soap Box Derby by chance. The child who was originally supposed to drive the car sponsored by the Warren-Trumbull Urban League couldn't make it.
So, Dillard volunteered.
She had so much fun that she enthusiastically offered, "I'll do it again next year."
kubik@vindy.com