Grant eighth in All-American race

By Gloria Austin  
Staff Writer
    HOULTON – When Lucas Grant won back-to-back Northern Maine Soap Box Derby titles; he said it felt like he had won the World Series twice in a row. Now, he can truly say he is a World champion.
Photograph courtesy of All-American Soap Box Derby Web site
PROUD – Houlton’s Lucas Grant displays his eighth place trophy on his soap box derby car. Grant is the first-ever Super Stock Houlton racer to place in the top nine of the All-American Race.
    Before he even returned home from Akron, word had already started circulating how well this young Houlton derby driver had done at the All-American Soap Box Derby race held July 21-26 in Ohio.
    “The support of the town was great,” said Grant. “Everyone knew and I didn’t need to call anyone up.”
    Grant finished eighth in the 71st world event, which adds even more punch to the “Thrill of the Hill” slogan.
    With a big smile spreading across his face he said, “It’s really cool to win. I will remember all the friends I made and how I finished in the top eight in the world … not just the nation … but the world.”
    Grant is the first-ever Super Stock driver from Houlton to even place in the top nine of the All-American Race. The last drivers putting Houlton on the map were Joe Holmes, who came in second and Chelsea Sloat fifth in the Stock Division of the 2002 All-American Race.
    Grant crouches low into his car and looks to stay close to the outside of the lane, but once he stood at the top of the All-American Race hill, his strategy took several twists.
    “When you first get there, you’re thinking is how fast am I going to go down this hill, where am I going to run my lines and where are the dips in the track,” he explained. “People were telling us to run one place, while locals were telling us another.”
    Still left to his own accord, Grant decided to observe other drivers — Lane 1, stay toward the middle; Lane 2, stay close to the next lane and in Lane 3, steer toward the guard rail — but it seemed early on that Lane 1 had the advantage.
    “I was a little worried because when the day started, it was all Lane 1,” he said. “I was in Lane 2 for my first race. The first lane was winning a ton of races, but then Lane 2 started evening it out and Lane 3 didn’t start winning until the end of the day.”
    Five times Grant hunkered down in his Bob Marquis and Son sponsored super stock car and maneuvered the hill, eliminating Jared Parm of Richmond, Va. in his first heat with a time of 29.48 and then Elizabeth Pryputniewicz of Berlin, Ct.
    “The competition was really good,” Grant said. “I only raced one kid from Ohio, and he knew the hill better than I did because he raced on it. But, all of my other competition was pretty good, too. I didn’t beat anyone by a lot, they were all close races even though there were no photo finishes.”
    As the day went on, Grant clocked in at 29.39 defeating Rebecca Botting of Bangor before overtaking Anthony Carter of Ohio in a time of 29.49.
    “When you finish, a lady is sitting at the end of the track, and when you are in an elimination round, she’ll put one finger up for Lane 1 [and so forth for the lane number] so I never had to wait for them to announce it,” Grant said. “They had it.”
    In the placement round, Grant finished in eighth place behind Zacchary Placzek of Stanwood, WA. who won with a time of 29.52.
    “I was really excited after I made it to the top nine,” Grant said. “I was just shaking a lot.”
    Grant said many people approached him when they found out he was from Houlton.
    “Some people said that we have one of the best hills on the East coast maybe even the country,” Grant explained. “I actually had people tell me that. To me, our hill is a lot faster. So, we have a pretty good hill here.”
    Grant, who is a stock division champion and a back-to-back Super Stock winner, now has his sights set on running a Masters car.
    “I need to go out and ask for some sponsors,” he said. “So, if anyone would like to sponsor me …” may do so by calling his parents Wesley and Monique Grant at 532- 7197.
    “I don’t want to just jump into masters racing,” Grant said. “Rally season begins in August and I would like to rally.”