Opening of new box car
track has been delayed

Answer: Originally scheduled to open earlier this year, the Kunia raceway, which will be one of two gravity-powered box car race tracks in the nation rivaling the Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio, will hopefully open in September, B.C. Cowling said.

Cowling, executive director of the nonprofit American Box Car Racing International organization, which is spearheading the project, said the track was two-thirds done. But its opening has been delayed, he said, so organizers could secure enough funds and donations to complete Phase I, which will feature two 400-foot-long tracks, each with three lanes and seven turns.

While ABCRI received about a quarter-million dollars in donations from local organizations and businesses, the organization still needs $40,000 to finish paving the tracks and putting the finishing touches on the facility, said Cowling, a former world champion kart racer.

"The state-of-the-art facility at the Royal Kunia Park & Ride will provide the community with an opportunity to learn driving skills, driving safety and physics principles in a fun, fairly safe and innovative setting, seven days a week, from morning to early evening," Cowling said.

The old track, which served about 25,000 youngsters a year, was shut down in June 2004 after city officials gave the ABCRI six weeks to move out because the land it had been leasing behind Sam's Club was sold to Wal-Mart.

For more information, visit the Web site www.boxcarracing.org or call 947-3393 or 382-5653.