Bruce is sponsoring seven kids besides Karen in this year's derby. Husband and wife serve on the board of the Super Kids Soap Box Derby, the derby event for physically disabled children. Bruce even built the trailer on which the championship car is carried to the winner's circle after the All-American race. When it's not on parade or at Derby Downs, the trailer is parked in his drive. So it was going to take something far worse than a smelly sewage backup in Hunsicker's East Akron basement yesterday morning to dampen their enthusiasm.
Construction is under way.
Even with kits, the driver remains the primary ingredient. With the racer's floorboard on two metal sawhorses, the willowy teen climbed on to be measured for placement of the steering wheel and brake mechanisms. Hunsicker urged, aiming her toward a piece of wood bolted to the middle of the floorboard where the brake pulley will be attached. Karen shrugged her shoulders and squeezed them together as the fiberglass shell was slipped over her head to make sure the brake pedals wouldn't rub against the racer's body. From at least one angle, Karen was stretched out, bent double and riding low.