Nothing could take the smile off of Jordan Cooper’s face Sunday afternoon as he basked in the sunshine and the glory that came with winning the second annual Silverdale Soap Box Derby.

Driving the bright yellow Cooper Fuel & Automotive car, Cooper, 11, was the fastest racer in the 35-car field, beating out 11-year-old Austin David in the Huddleston-McKenzie, CPA car by a mere .013 seconds in the finals. David won the first race in the faster Lane 1 by .017 seconds, but Cooper made that difference up in the final race of the day by winning in .03 seconds. The difference in finishing times determined the winner.

“Last year I didn’t do so well,” said Cooper, who now advances to the All-American Soap Box Derby World Championships July 21-26 in Akron, Ohio. “I only made it to the second round.”

Cooper’s super stock car didn’t fare well over the winter and when he and his dad went to pull it out of storage it had spots of rust on its metal parts.

“We had to take it all apart about two weeks ago,” the sixth grader said.

Surprisingly it was water which helped Cooper make it through the stress of the finals.

“I was real nervous,” he said, “so I went over to Wendy’s and got a drink of water.”

He said he’s looking forward to racing in Akron on a trip that’s being funded by the Silverdale Sunrise Rotary Club.

West Sound racers dominated the day. Kyle Bropst, 11, drove the West Sound Electric car to a .02 second third-place win against Ricky Wright, 10, in the East Bremerton Rotary car.

“It was a very good competition,” race organizer Bill Wright said. “Nobody got hurt and everybody had fun.”

Malia Barber won best assembly for the Sungrafx Web Design car, Crystal Hanners took best original decoration for her American flag-painted car and Jocelynn Wright received the sportsmanship award.

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