Unalaska, AK – Unalaskans raced in the town's ninth annual Soap Box Derby Saturday. Sixteen kids competed for spots to go to the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio to challenge winners from around the country.

In the stock car division, Ethan Mahoney walked away with first place, followed by Caleb Shaishnikoff in second and Jaime Ammons in third. Emerson Winters took first in the super stock division, with Rachel Stahl in second and Harley Ruckman in third.

Derby director Matt Lightner said usually participation is closer to 30 or 40 kids.

"We tried to move the race back because of weather, for a better race day," he said. "But it turns out that a lot of kids are already out of town. So we're thinking next year we'll move it back to Memorial Day weekend."

This year, event coordinators also decided to hold a double elimination tournament. That meant that each contestant had at least four chances to race down the hill. For Shaishnikoff, that was all that mattered.

"I don't really care about going to Ohio," he said. "I just care about going down the hill again."

But Winters, who won last year's stock car division, had other things on her mind.

"My dad told me that if I win, there's going to be a bigger hotel than last year's" in Akron, said Winters, who shared the credit for her winning record with her whole family. "I just hope that I have a lot of fun and win."

Family members and volunteers from the Ballyhoo Lions club helped the racers prepare their cars Saturday, making sure all of the cars and drivers had the same total weight. Jim Shaishnikoff said they helped rotate the wheels, too.

Because of the curvature of Unalaska's soap box derby track, one lane is faster than the other. The kids race against each other twice during one heat, and a computer timer calculates who is faster overall.