THUNDER BAY - Seeing as though the legal driving age is still 16, local youth found a different way to race cars on Saturday.
The 14th annual soapbox races were held in front of a chilled but spirited crowd.
Taking home the hardware this year in the A-class was Jackson Elliott, who won the final race of the day.
“Once I realized it, I was surprised because I’ve never won before,” Jackson said. “I’ve won the awards that everyone wins, but I’ve never actually won a first-place trophy.”
“I just feel happy,” said the 10-year-old following his victory.
Jackson has been racing for four years, but says this is the first time he’s ever come close to the top.
In the modified class, Emmett Cleland won on his first try.
“I was thinking it’d be real close, I didn’t realize how fast the cars would be,” said Emmett. “It had a nice breeze on my face.”
The event featured youngsters aged 7-14 participating. While many kids took the initiative of making their own cars, Steve MacDonald said the others were provided by the George Jeffery Children’s Foundation.
“We’re here to raise funds for the George Jeffries Children’s Foundation,” said MacDonald, the executive director at George Jeffery who helped organize the race. “It was an exciting day of races.”
In regards to the winner off the A-class, MacDonald saw it fitting that it was Jackson.
“Him and his sister have been racers for many years, and his dad Leo is also a fixer of many cars here.”
Both Jackson and Emmett went home with a trophy and a brand new bike from Canadian Tire.
