Conshy Honors its 'All-American' Champion

Written by Mischa Arnosky

Erin Donovan has been racing in the Conshohocken Soap Box Derby for the past three years — and all she has to show for it is a huge trophy and being the focus of a parade up Fayette Street Monday night.

Donovan didn’t just win the Conshohocken Soap Box Derby on July 4. No. She qualified for the All-American Soap Box Derby which was held in Akron, Ohio late last month … and then won that, coming in first in the “Rally Stock” division. 

“I really didn’t expect to win,” Donovan said, after she jumped off of flatbed truck that paraded her and other local derby winners down Fayette Street. (There were also throngs of fire trucks and police cruisers blaring their horns as they drove past hundred of residents who lined up on Conshohocken’s main drag.)  

Racing the gravity-powered cars is something of a family affair for the Donovans.

“My parents met while racing, so it’s kind of in my blood,” Donovan said.

“In 1988 we raced each other, going down this hill. He won, I got third,” Erin Donovan’s mother Christine said with a laugh.

And her family helped Erin hone her racing skills, taking her to an empty parking lot every night about a month before the Conshohocken Derby.

“Each car has a steering wheel and a brake, and you have to keep it straight the whole time, because if you turn it a little bit, you lose time. And you have to get down really low in the car,” Erin said.

Erin also races in the Keystone Rally Association — and being a part of that organization has taken her and her family throughout the country in search of competitive hills.

“It’s very time consuming, but it’s a good family sport — we spend a lot of time together as a family and with friends,” Christine said.

As for Erin’s margin of victory? Well … she said she doesn’t know. Her mother knows, though, and she has all of Erin’s race stats logged on a smartphone app. 

“She’s cool about it and I don’t think she knows how big of a deal it is,” Christine said. “She woke up on Sunday the day after the race and it was just another day for her, I guess because we race so often. I mean, she knows it’s the big race and she’s obviously thrilled that she’s the world champion, but I guess it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

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Honored during the parade, in addition to Erin Donovan, were racers Lauren Burkert, Natalie Burkert and Vinny Orler.

For more about the All-American Soap Box Derby, visit http://www.aasbd.org