Deborah Washington Memorial

Soap Box Derby

What started as a one-division event under the direction of Deborah Washington, an employee at Chevron Refinery in Pascagoula, has blossomed into a four-division event and honors the memory of its first director who took her place in paradise after a battle with breast cancer.

The Deborah Washington Memorial Soap Box Derby started in 1992 with a handful of stock cars racing on Bellview Street. The intent was for this event to bring racers and family members together to build the car for the once-a-year community event.  The goal was to provide cars for any child who wanted to race and that there would never be a fee charged for the event.

To this day, those wishes of Deborah’s are still granted through the financial support of Chevron Refinery.  In 2004 the local race began hosting a masters division and, after Hurricane Katrina, added a Super Kids division. Racers and volunteers are treated like royalty with a pre-race family dinner, breakfast and lunch on race day, t-shirts representing each division, and trophies up to 7th place.   Funds are also provided that allow each racer a financial stipend toward the expenses of attending the championship races in Akron, Ohio.

Moss Point has been honored as Race Family of the Year, is home to the 2006 Soap Box Derby Family of the Year and a second-place champion in the stock division.

The race committee in Moss Point consists of volunteers who have been working with the race since its inception, some of whom now have grandchildren participating in the event.