Deer Park Girl Is On A Roll 12-Year-Old Becomes First Girl To Win Local Derby

Three years ago, Bryann “Annie” Robinson got the racing bug from an unusual gift: A soap box derby car her mother won in a raffle at a Las Vegas casino.

On Saturday, the blue-eyed 12-year-old made local sports history by becoming the first girl to win the Spokane Soap Box Derby and an allexpenses-paid trip to the national championships in Akron, Ohio, in August.

“She has a need for speed,” said her mother, Marchette Momb, before her daughter’s winning heat on the Post Street hill.

Dressed in a red No. 13 jersey and a matching hard hat, the Deer Park Junior High eighth-grader won the hard way over 29 contenders.

Robinson battled from the loser’s bracket to the finals, repeatedly steering 80 inches of fiberglass and plywood down the Post Street hill at speeds reaching 33 mph. She drove the car she built - and placed third with - in last year’s race.

Robinson had lots of support. Her mother screamed at every heat. She got driving tips from David Wilms, who placed eighth in the 1987 national finals. Her grandfather, Al Robinson, and his dog, Lucy, drove 1,000 miles from San Jose, Calif., to watch her race.

After nearly seven hours of elimination heats, only 0.13 of a second separated the two top contenders.

Robinson edged speedy newcomer Cameren Craig to win the chance to compete nationally for prizes, cash and scholarships. Chris Young, 12, placed third.

Eleven-year old Cameren, nicknamed “Skid” for his love of speeding, was disappointed he lost.

But the slight, 65-pounder said he’ll be back next year with his “Route 66” racer - and with his sister Megan, who plans to race for the first time.

“We never thought he’d do this well his first time. We’re in shock,” said Doug Burns, Cameren’s dad.

The race, assisted by the Knights of Columbus, the West Spokane Kiwanis and two north Spokane neighborhood associations, was a family affair and a slice of Americana.

Loudspeakers blared John Philip Sousa marches and the Beach Boys. The Stars and Stripes snapped in the wind at the starting chutes, built by Kiwanis volunteers.

The U.S. Air Force sent a Fairchild color guard and a giant flatbed truck to transport racers from the bottom of the hill to their next heat.

Dads and other volunteers who had helped build the race cars made last-minute adjustments to wheels and brakes. Area businesses and service clubs sponsored the cars, helping defray the cost of the $355, ready-to-assemble kits and $25 entry fee.

Families recorded the action on film and videotape, shouting encouragement as the small white vehicles burst out of the starting chutes, their drivers bent low for greater speed.

Among the spectators were Mead neighbors whose sons, Sean Boyer and Joshua Schmidt, were racing for the first time.

“It’s a good thing this is almost over; I don’t think I can take much more, it’s so exciting,” said Sean’s mother, Genea Boyer.

The All-American Soap Box Derby competition flourished in Spokane from 1935 through the ‘70s, then died and was reborn last year. Stockbroker Chris Bovey, who raced as a kid in Spokane, was the main catalyst.

“It’s a great way for parents and kids to get together,” Bovey said.

That was evident at the end of Sunday’s race, when Annie Robinson’s uncle hoisted the excited girl on his shoulders for a victory walk up the hill she’d conquered.

“I knew I’d won coming out of the chutes that last time,” she said. “I did it!”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo