22nd Annual Kirby Derby returns to Dix Park

A popular downhill soap box racing event happened in Raleigh on Saturday.

The 22nd annual Kirby Derby was held at Dix Park. Nineteen derby cars participated in the wacky traditional event.

The Kirby Derby was founded by the Pullen Park Terrace neighborhood in 2002. In 2017, Kirby Derby moved to its new location at Dix Park in partnership with the City of Raleigh.

This year's theme was "Games People Play", inspired by people's favorite board games, field games, video games, and more.

"It's modeled on a Red Bull kind of idea. And so a soapbox derby... a little bit of little rascals thrown in there. It's just a fun day," said Christopher Dellano, Kirby Derby. "We have a different theme every year. We tried to make it a wide enough open theme where there are lots of interpretations."

For the younger kids, the event also featured pine box mini car races and paper airplane contests.

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