Super Kids chase checkered flag on streets of Sharpsville

Jun. 25—SHARPSVILLE — Before allowing his dad to lift him out of his wheelchair, Larry Smith made sure he stretched his upper body to ready himself.

The 12-year-old Canfield resident gave his dad the nod. He was ready to race.

Plopped in the soap box car with his driver on Pierce Avenue in Sharpsville, Smith tucked his head down to minimize wind resistance.

His strategy worked — he won his first race at the 13th Annual Super Kids Soap Box Derby on Saturday.

"Near the finish line the other race car started curving and that helped us win," Smith said.

Event organizer Pam Dorfi also heaved a sigh of relief. Days before the race Dorfi said she didn't have enough volunteers. She credited advance coverage by The Herald for getting an outpouring of offers to help.

"We began getting calls 7 a.m. this morning," she said.

The Super Kids program, which stages Soap Box Derby-style races for children 18 years old or younger who with mental and physical challenges, holds its national championship at the National Soap Box Derby track in Akron. Volunteer drivers can steer the small car while participants are seated next to them.

Top performers at Sharpsville's race will head to Akron later this summer.

Dorfi has faced her own challenges. In January, she got COVID-19 along with double pneumonia.

"I got scared at times," she said.

Then, she had an accident while setting up this year's race, which left her foot in an orthopedic boot.

The injury sidelined her for some of the more physically demanding duties of putting on the Super Kids race and made the late influx of volunteers even more welcome, but she refused to completely sit the event out completely.

In her 13 years holding the Super Kids Race, the event has grown so successful that other communities are following in the the Shenango Valley's lead. The national Super Kids organization refers organizers in other areas to Dorfi for tips on putting on the event.

The local group has had an especially close relationship with event organizers in Moundsville, W. Va., not far from Wheeling. The Moundsville organization held its first Super Kids race in 2021 and had another event last month.

Talking about his victory, Smith is a racing veteran who has been in a couple previous competitions. But it's more than winning and losing, or even the race itself.

For some of the Super Kids, who are often isolated from their peers under the best of circumstances, and even more so during a pandemic.

"It gives me a chance to interact with other kids," he said.

With 40 racers competing this year, Dorfi said they came throughout western Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia. and Smith liked hobnobbing with them.

"I enjoy the day," he said. "It's really special."

Herald Staff Writer Monica Pryts contributed to this article.