TELEVISION Driven by success: Show features local Soap Box Derby racer

The Mineral Ridge girl rode with NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
MINERAL RIDGE -- McKenzie Shaffer lost in her first heat at the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, but the bubbly 10-year-old won a feature part in a television special on the derby produced by NASCAR Images.
The show, "Derby Dreams: Stories from the 67th All-American Soap Box Derby," will air on the Speed Channel at 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Monday and noon Sept. 12.
As a treat during Soap Box Derby week, McKenzie, a NASCAR fan, took a ride down the track at Derby Downs in an adult-sized derby car with NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.
As they started down the hill, McKenzie turned around and asked Stewart if he "knew how to drive one of these things," said her mother, Patty Postlethwait, with a laugh.
McKenzie, a fifth-grader at Mineral Ridge Middle School, is one of several participants, who along with their families, are featured in the NASCAR Images show produced by Rory Karpf, formerly with NFL Films.
The show is narrated by NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne.
How choice was made
"We tried to pick kids with interesting stories," Karpf said.
McKenzie has mild cerebral palsy, and had kidney surgery at 6 months old. She also had a heart disease that had cleared up by a couple of checkups ago, her mother said.
Others in the show include Andre Langston, 13, an inner-city youth from Chicago; Cameron Keistler, 13, from an affluent neighborhood in Charlotte, N.C.; Kara Adkins, 11, of Indianapolis, who dreams of being a NASCAR driver; the Fox family of Augusta, Ga., with their three Soap Box Derby racers: Mark, 11, Ann Marie, 12, and Lauren, 14; Jeff Robison, 15, of Sanford, Fla., a skateboarder; and Jeri Beth Watson, 15, of Salem, Ore., who is deaf.
"We lucked out. The kids are all very authentic. They are not shy, but they didn't ham it up, either," Karpf said.
Regarding McKenzie, Karpf said: "We didn't realize how cute she is and how well she would do in front of the camera."
"Overall, she's a social butterfly. She enjoyed the experience and had no problems with the camera," Mrs. Postlethwait said.
About the show
The Soap Box Derby is the backdrop for the show, the core focus of which is on how the event draws people from everywhere, where families work together and how it affects the kids, Karpf said.
McKenzie, who won the Stock Division at the Youngstown Soap Box Derby to qualify for the All-American, said she had fun during derby week.
Besides the race itself, she took a trip to Geauga Lake amusement park, and she also liked dance night when the drivers "traded stuff" with one another.
McKenzie also added to her stuffed-monkey collection, receiving many from friends and relatives.
"There's no more room on my bed," she said.
She also received an autographed stuffed monkey from Tony Stewart.
She probably didn't tell him that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is her favorite NASCAR driver.
alcorn@vindy.com