KC Soap Box Derby racer takes 2nd at National Championship

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Brenna Kilby left the KC metro for Akron last week as the latest Kilby to qualify for the All-American Soap Box Derby .

That series of races wrapped up with Kilby proving she’s one of the best in the nation, taking second place in the Local Masters division .

“You can’t really focus on anything else because if your mind is somewhere else for even a second, it will most likely mess up your drives so I had to stay super focused on the line I wanted to drive,” Kilby said.

Brenna’s Dad, John, placed seventh in 1988 while racing and bonding with his brothers and father. 35 years later, Brenna’s journey through Soap Box Derby racing has helped the racer-turned-dad connect with his daughter.

“It’s been a wonderful thing overall for all of us and I didn’t know that we’d continue the family tradition but we have and we’ve jumped in and we’re full steam ahead,” John said.

It got that much more wonderful over the weekend in Akron as Brenna kept winning her early races.

“It was the realization that she’d done an amazing job she’s really tightened up her runs and the realization that she could really go all the way here,” said Brenna’s mom Dawn.

All the way to the Championship race for the kind of car she drives. The cars are mostly the same but Brenna’s has butterflies on the outside, driving home how she wants to bring the car down the track.

“Soft turns, gentle turns, smooth and fast and gentle and just graceful is how you would kind of describe a butterfly,” Brenna said.

The challenge that could have derailed the weekend happened earlier in a separate event, when Brenna hit the wall for the first time, disqualifying her from that event and potentially putting up a phycological barrier making it harder to go down that lane again.

“However, on the big [Championship] race, she drew the same lane and conquered that lane,” John said. “She had to go back to the same lane where she tagged the wall and drove it spectacularly.”

“In that track, if you’re going to try to play it safe, you most likely won’t get far,” Brenna said.

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