'Angel' helps young winner on her roll to Akron

[Guest guest]

'Angel' helps young winner on her roll to Akron

06/18/2006

http://www.pottstownmercury.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16805064 & BRD=1674 & PAG=461 & d\

ept_id=18041 & rfi=6

Holly Harrar didn't think she was going to win the race, but then

again, she didn't realize just how much a win in the 12th annual Ambucs

All-American Soap Box Derby would mean to her. And to her family.

Even though the 11-year-old Harrar raced her way into the finals of

the Super Stock division through the consolation bracket, she had to defeat

Kelley Mull twice to claim the championship and she was less than convinced

that she would be able to pull off a win.

" Absolutely not, " she said. " I didn't even think I was going to win.

It just came. "

Her win in tribute to her 11-year-old cousin, who died last year,

brought a flood of pure emotion and tears of joy from her entire family,

just one of the brightest moments of the daylong event held on the

Street hill, which also featured the Stock and Masters divisions, won by

9-year-old Lukas DiStefano and 14-year-old Finkbeiner, respectively.

The three winners each qualify for nationals, the All-American Rally

Championship, in Akron, Ohio, on July 22.

" It was a great day. The weather held out, which is always important

and we had very few incidents that caused any delays, " derby co-chairman

Mike Benner said. " It was a lot of fun for everybody and we had a lot of

great new people that have come into the sport that are really starting to

help get the momentum back into soapbox in Pottstown. "

The event, which featured 46 racers, is sponsored in part by Exelon

and takes six months of effort from the Pottstown Ambucs to make it all

possible.

For Harrar, something happened in the four phases of the finals,

something that made her and her family believe there was another passenger

in her car on Saturday.

" We dedicated this race season to Holly's cousin ( Isabella).

She had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and she went to the doctor and had a

high fever. She had a seizure in the office and my brother took her to the

children's hospital. She ended up having another seizure that night and

passed away, " Tom Harrar, Holly's father, said.

Harrar, who will be a seventh grader at Pottsgrove Middle School, paid

tribute to her cousin on her car with a special color scheme.

" She liked purple and lime green so I painted the car with those

colors, " she said.

With that extra motivation in her car, Harrar was able to win both

races to take the title.

" I think we had some angel's wings pushing that car down the hill, "

Tom said.

" Ohhh yeah, " Holly quickly chimed in.

It was Harrar's second win in the four years she has participated in

the Soap Box Derby after she won the stock division in 2005. Finkbeiner is

also a repeat winner having won all three divisions during her career with

her Masters win.

The Stock division includes the cars for the younger drivers that

begin at 9 years old. The Super Stock division is designed for older

children, and the Masters division is for racers who are more involved with

the car's construction

For DiStefano, of East Coventry, this was his first time in the derby,

but he's already caught the itch.

" I love to race and I think it's fun and I'm pretty good at it, so I

was quite confident that I was going to win, " he said.

The Soap Box Derby is a fixture for the Finkbeiner family, this being

's eighth year, and she's also excited to get a return trip to Akron.

" It's a big deal to everyone and my whole family, " she said.

" Family " is a big part of why the derby is so popular in Pottstown, as

family members each play a role in making their car race ready.

" It's 100 percent a family sport, " Benner said. " Mom, dad, siblings,

grandparents, everybody that's a part of the family comes out and gets

involved. A lot of these people have raced together for many years and have

become close to one another, almost like a second family through soapbox

derby. "