New Castle racer wins stock division at Soap Box Derby

It was the Pennsylvania youth's first year in competition.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
AKRON -- Nicolas Sibeto of New Castle, Pa., won the stock division championship of the 66th All-American Soap Box Derby on Saturday.
James Kimball of Rockford, Ill., won the masters division and Corey Harkins of Chicago won the super stock division title.
James, 15, earned the championship in his sixth year of competition.
"Winning is neat, but you meet a lot of people from all over the country and that's cool, too," he said.
Corey, 15, was mobbed by other drivers from the Chicago area, who tried to lift the champion onto their shoulders.
"I didn't know who won," he said. "You can't pay attention to the other drivers; you've got to look ahead and hope."
Nicolas, 9, also wasn't sure. When he crossed the finish line he yelled out, "Who won, who won?"
It took officials a few seconds to determine the finish and then declared Nicolas the winner.
"This is really incredible," Nicolas said. "This is the first year I've competed and I won. I don't know how. I just did."
Youngstown area
Two of the five racers from the Youngstown area won individual heats in the competition.
Johanna Kuebler, 11, of Berlin Center, won a heat and received a bye, which allowed her to place in the top 25 of the 141 racers in the stock division.
Jenny Rodway, 14, of Boardman also won one heat and placed in the top 25 of the 48 racers in the masters division.
Other local racers were Dan Borosky, 12, of Boardman, metro stock division; Chris Kuhaneck, 13, of Salem, super stock division; and Jeff Davis, 16, of Austintown, rally division.
The featured race was an exhibition by NASCAR champions Tony Stewart, Ricky Craven and Joe Nemechek.
"This might be bigger than the Daytona 500," said Stewart after rolling to victory on the 989-foot 4-inch hill designed for gravity-powered competition. "That is one intense ride. I can't imagine what it is like for a kid to come down that track. It's the thrill of a lifetime."
Nemechek, whose son John Hunter, 8, rode with him, finally got to race at Derby Downs. He competed in the Soap Box Derby as a youngster in Lakeland, Fla.
"Coming down the hill, I felt like I did when I was a kid," Nemechek said. "What a blast."
Craven came back for the second straight year.
"Tony, who gave you a push?" Craven joked. "Seriously, this is a great chance for youngsters to learn competition and respect."
Division explanation
The stock division is designed to give young builders a learning experience. Boys and girls, 9 through 16, compete in simplified cars built from kits purchased from the All-American. The super stock division gives the competitor an opportunity to build a more advanced car model, also using a supplied kit.
The masters division offers boys and girls, 11 through 16, a chance to race in car models built from scratch or from a kit, with certain design changes allowed.
Earlier, Greg Pruitt edged out Ernie Kellerman and Frank Stams in a race featuring former Cleveland Browns football players.
"Once again, Greg was by far the fastest," former defensive back Kellerman said of Pruitt, a former all-pro running back.