Picture Debra Houston, all of 4-foot-9 and not quite 90 pounds, bringing her grandchildren to their Soap Box Derby racing practice. It’s a sport for tiny people — children mostly — but there stood Houston, small enough and brave enough, to draw intrigue.
“I’m looking at Debra saying, ‘You’re small enough,” said Larry Thienes, who runs the Indianapolis Inner City Youth Racing League. “I bet if you’re interested, we have a car you can race.’”
Houston wasn’t convinced. It was the summer of 2020, the middle of a pandemic. She was going through chemotherapy for her second bout with cervical cancer at the time (she’s cancer-free now). Her boyfriend, grandchildren and their racing coaches finally convinced her to give it a shot.
“There’s not too much I won’t do that’s not illegal,” Houston said.
Houston is now the oldest Soap Box Derby racer in the country at 59 years old. She competed in the Soap Box Derby National Championships in September — there’s one division with no age limit — and raced four times before she was eliminated.
Nationals will be back in Indianapolis this year at Wilbur Shaw Memorial Hill, the longest designated soap box racing track in the country. Cars can reach about 30 mph.
Houston said riders basically lie down in the car, and all you can see of the drivers is their eyes. The rest is covered by the car and a helmet. Understandably, it took a couple of trips down the hill before she was comfortable with racing.
Houston said she leans more toward the fun rather than competitiveness of the sport but still keeps an edge. She blames her loss at nationals on faulty steering in the car.
Thienes credits Houston — he calls her “our racing grandma” — for helping promote the Indianapolis Inner City Youth Racing League, which is part of Indianapolis Soap Box Derby. It’s a chance for youth from the inner city to participate in a sport they otherwise probably wouldn’t come across.
The league had 41 students race at nationals last year, and four qualified for the finals, Thienes said.
Bob Getts, director of Indianapolis Soap Box Derby, said Houston is everything right about the community, and he appreciates how supportive she’s been of other racers through fundraising and encouragement.
“She’s like a spark plug,” he said.
Houston’s boyfriend died in September 2020. They were together for 27 years. The loss has been difficult, she said, but she also feels motivated to continue racing since he was one of the people who encouraged her to start.
Houston is in the process of getting on the lung transplant list but said that won’t stop her from racing.
“Of course I did wanna beat them kids,” she said of last year’s nationals. “I really did. I plan on beating them this year.”
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
