The Daily Alaska empire., 1948-07-19

 "B." Justin, the first Sitka boy to win Juneau's Soap Box classic, will trav- el to Akron, Ohio, to compete in the National Soap Box Derby, next month. Justin, son of MT. and Mrs. J. Lloyd Ripley, was sponsored by the Arts and Crafts Store of Sitka. owned by Claire Swenson. He was the only one of the five Sitka en- tries to place in the race.
 Over 1,50O spectators lined both sides of Twelth Street to see the Loys go racing down the track. The derby is sponsored annually by the Daily Alaska Empire and the Juneau Rotary Club Safety first is always stressed in the race and this year the Rotary Club constructed kick boards along the sides of the track to protect the spectators.
 Mcclellan In Near Win Lowell Mcclellan, of Douglas. came in for a near win in the Derby. Running in Class IA" he van quished three opponents from the field, only to crackup when he was slated to race Ripley for first place, McClellans car had faulty brakes and after he jammd his brakes just past the finish line, he lost control of his car In order to avoid hitting any of the spectators, he ran his car into telephone pole. The plucky boy, suffered cuts on his legs and arms and his car was total wreck. i The accident was reported imme- diately over the public address sys- . tenn and the car was rushed up to i the repair pit at the starting post to determine if anything could be done. i The crowd waited breathlessly for the decision and when it was an- nounced that Mcclellan wouldn't be able to enter the finals, everyone clapped and cheered for the plucky i racer. Mcclellan was awarded sec- end place and Ripley gained first place by default. Mcclellan was sponsored by the Cottage Food Store | of Juneau.
 1 Jay Osterman, younger brother of Dale Osterman who was winner in 1946, nosed out Jerry Wade to be winner of third place. Other winners in Class "A were Mason Beach, and Jerry Cropley.
 Class "B" Races
 Sandy Blanton flashed ahead of Keith Overton by two feet to win first place in the Class "B' race. Blanton was driving the Hot Rod and was sponsored by his father, iDr. w. P. Blanton. Overton placed second in the race and Jack Gould Jr.. flashed ahead of Don Able Jr., to win third place.
 Other race winners were Billy Gaines and Riekie Smith.
 Class "C' Races
 Jerry McNeven, sponsored by the War Surplus Store. crossed the finish line just one length ahead of sam McPhetres, Jr., to become the cham pion of Class "C" Class "C,"' in- eludes the younger boys, who are not eligible for the Akron trip. Ra- cers in this class are allowed all the help they need in making their cars. Tn the other two classes, the cars must be made by the boys themselves.
 Novelty Races
 Just having fun, two former win ners of the Derby and several Ro- tarians staged novelty races. In the Atomic" race, Herb Hillerman cros- sed the finish line ahead of Jack Burford. only to have bunch Of firecrackers on his car blow up ana give him a hot seat. Carson Lawrence sitting atop bed flashed across the finish line in a blaze of glory and Bill Hixson in rowboat plough ed across ten minutes later. Prizes for the winners of each heat, for the best constructed and designed. car, and for the top win ners in each class will be presented ] at the Rotary lunch on Tuesday moon.
 The loser of each heat was royalty treated to huge piece of watermel- on, hot dogs and pop by the Rotary Indicative of the good sportsmanshlp that was displayed in the Derby was the fact that all the kids who had watermelon kept on smiling as they