(Le Mars) — You may recall last year at about this time a young teenage boy from Le Mars had competed in the National Championships of the Soap Box Derby, taking home a six foot tall trophy for his second place national finish. That boy was Blaise Coffee, and he has again qualified for the National Soap Box Derby championships, which will be held in Ohio next week. The 14 year old has already been to Ohio once this year in order to qualify.
This year, Coffee faces new competition right in his own home, as his five year old sister Kenna, has begun racing soap box derby cars. Coffee explains how she has been doing in her inaugural year of racing.
The brother and sister combination will obviously be racing in different age groups, but both will compete in Ohio for the National championships. Coffee says a year ago, he had to borrow a soap box car in order to compete in the various races. This year, Coffee says he has his own car.
The 14 year old teenager says he has been practicing on the track that runs parallel to U-S Highway 20 next to the Lewis and Clark baseball stadium.
On Thursday evening, Blaise and his sister Kenna, will be participating on a “tip-night” at the J and J Cafe Truckstop in order to raise funds to help defray expenses for his Ohio trip.
The soap box derby racer says he is grateful for the opportunity to compete again in the nationals, and is appreciative of the efforts by friends and family members.