BREWER – Eleven-year-old Rachael Graves of Brewer will have an exciting summer vacation story to tell her classmates when she goes back to school this fall. The sixth-grade Brewer Middle School student, along with her father, Brian Graves, is leaving today to compete in the 71st All-American Soap Box Derby World Championships in Akron, Ohio.

This is Graves’ third year racing in soap box derby competitions. In June, she won the Stock division in the Eastern Maine Soap Box Derby Race, which qualified her to go to Akron to compete against other local winners in the championships. The event, which runs from July 19-26, is actually composed of three races, one in each of three divisions: Stock, Super Stock and Masters.

Also qualifying to go to the championships were Rebecca Botting of Hermon, who won the Super Stock division, and Nick Thomas, also of Hermon, who won the Masters division.

The championships begin with opening ceremonies Monday and continue with different activities throughout the week including inspections and test runs. The event culminates with the actual championship races on July 26. The winners from the championships will be escorted by a police motorcade to the awards ceremony.

This isn’t Graves first trip to the All-American Soap Box Derby Championships. She also had the opportunity to attend the event in 2007 after she placed second in the local Bangor race, but was still able to attend due to the rally points that she accumulated to win as the District 10 champion. Racers are able to rack up points by attending rally races throughout the country. Last year Graves attended races in Houlton, Gorham and Bangor, and several races in Connecticut.

“It’s cool because you get to meet people from all the different states,” Graves said.

Last year in Akron, Graves gave away Frisbees with her car and number and her sponsors – Hammond Street Exxon and Clewley Foundations of Bangor – emblazoned on them.

This year’s event will also include international racers.

“I enjoy it because it’s fun and you meet a lot of new people,” Graves said. “It’s also cool to go fast on a hill.”

Soap box derby racing isn’t the only activity that Graves is involved in: she also a member of the Brewer recreation basketball and softball teams, is part of the Bangor Soccer Club, plays the clarinet and is a member of the Bangor Area Children’s Choir.

Graves’ father, Brian, wanted to help out his daughter by following the sport.

“If you can support your kid with something they like doing, then you do it,” he said. “It’s fun and it’s rewarding to see her do well.”

Brian Graves also views soap box derby as a way for his daughter to make new friends.

“By rally racing, she’s met a lot of other kids in New England, ” he said. “She’s raced against them all in the past two years and a lot of them will be there racing in Ohio.”

Graves’ fan base includes her mother, Sharon Knapp; 5-year-old brother, Cody; 3-year-old sister, Brielle, and her grandparents, Bob and Sharon Graves of Levant. At her racing events, all wear signature yellow team shirts, with a picture of Graves’ car and her name on them, and buttons featuring her picture and name.

“I am so very happy, excited and proud of her that I feel like I win when she wins,” Sharon Knapp said with a laugh.

Brian, who is co-owner of the Hammond Street Exxon in Bangor, said soap box derby racing is a great way to bond with your child.

“It’s a good father-daughter experience,” he said. “You get out of it what you put into it.”

Graves noted it’s a family effort and it’s her father’s advice that helps her win.

“I just do what Dad says [about racing] and it helps a lot. You’ve got to have a lot of confidence to win. I want to keep on racing because it’s fun and I like to win,” she said.