On July 4, 2026, Nevada Day hosted Carson City’s inaugural Soap Box Derby: a time-honored tradition in which kids are tasked with creating a gravity-powered race cart from scratch.

This translates into kids coming up with absolutely wild ideas for cars that their grownup helpers must attempt to incorporate into a real-life build over the course of a few weeks (while trying to impart DIY knowledge into said kids all at the same time).

And boy howdy did these kids (and grownups) succeed.

Pre-Race Highlights

Racers to the starting line

Post-Race Decoration Contest + Time Awards

Kelsey is a fourth-generation Nevadan, investigative journalist and college professor working in the Sierras. She is an advocate of high desert agriculture, rescue dogs, and analog education.