Derby Downs
The world-famous Derby Downs track in Akron, Ohio is not only home to races leading up to the FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship – Derby Downs is also a center of activity and interest from the spring through the fall for special events and corporate outings!
Derby Downs
Annual Events
Gravity Racing Challenge
STEM Team Competition
STEM Summer Camp
FirstEnergy All-American
Soap Box Derby World Championship
Corporate Derby Challenge
Girls Racing to STEM Workshop
Senior Day
Inclusion Day
About the Derby Downs Track
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Located on George Washington Boulevard, the All-American Soap Box Derby facility features a Topside garage and service area that acts as car storage and a “service pit” during Race Week, while doubling as the program’s kit assembly and shipping hub year-round alongside the Derby Hall of Fame and Museum.
The engineered, 30-foot-wide track spans an official length of 989 feet, 4 inches, with a safety bridge positioned 35 feet, 7 inches past the former finish line. To generate high-speed propulsion, the track’s decline drops in three distinct stages: a sharp 16% grade for the first 53.75 feet, a steady 6% grade over the next 530 feet, and a gradual 2% decline for the final 405.5 feet. Safety is maximized through continuous bordering guardrails, a massive 1,200-foot run-out area past the finish line, and parallel driver guide lines running the full length of the track.