HERMAN - Rick Etzel and his sons enjoy playing with cars.

They build them, together, adjust them together, learn ways to make them faster together - and dream of winning a national race together.

Adam Etzel, 11, and his 10-year-old brother Brian compete in the Super Stock division of the Soap Box Derby.

"My Dad's boss (Frank Palermo) showed him a story about it in a magazine," Adam Etzel said.

"My boss knows we like to do things together as a family and this seemed perfect," Rick Etzel said.

Adam began racing in 2003 and finished third in the Memorial Day race in Freeport that year, eighth at the Akron Qualifier in New Castle and second at the Labor Day race in Freeport.

Last year, he was fourth at a New Castle rally race, sixth in a fall rally race and third at the Akron Qualifier.

Brian had a second-place finish at Freeport and a fifth-place finish at a fall rally last year.

The Etzel boys compete only in events in Freeport and New Castle. The big race of the year is the Akron Qualifier - held annually in New Castle - that sends its champion to the national Soap Box Derby race in Akron, Ohio.

This year's Akron Qualifier is June 18.

"That's the race everybody wants to be on top of his game for," Rick Etzel said.

A Soap Box Derby car has a wooden floor board, steel axles, roller-bearing wheels, cable steering and a plastic body.

The Etzels' "crew chief" is their 7-year-old brother, Mark.

"He knows how to change the wheels and brake pads - and he can do it quickly," Rick Etzel said.

Anyone age 8 to 17 can compete. Most events are double-elimination and drivers compete one-on-one throughout. The Soap Box Derby in Akron races three cars at a time.

The cars move as fast as 30 to 40 miles per hour, depending on the length of the hill.

"The key is driving to a straight point," Adam said of maximizing speed.

This isn't exactly a sport in which participants can practice with any regularity. The Etzels rarely practice at all.

"We tried running the cars down our hill a couple of times, but it beats them (the cars) up," Mr. Etzel said.

Prior to a race, the drivers exchange two wheels each "to make sure neither car has an unfair advantage," Rick Etzel said.

"This is a very fair-minded sport. At least two days before your division runs in the Akron Qualifier, the cars are impounded by (Derby) officials and checked to make sure they're legal."

No Soap Box Derby car may weigh more than 230 pounds, driver included. Etzel said most bare cars weigh 65 pounds.

The Etzels place removable weights inside their cars so they can approach the legal weight limit.

"We want to get as close as we can - usually within a couple of pounds," Mr. Etzel said.

The only way to qualify for the national Soap Box Derby is by winning a local qualifier or becoming a rally points champion through placing high in numerous rally events.

The annual winners of the national Soap Box Derby lose their cars on the spot. Each winning car goes directly into the Soap Box Derby Museum.

Because the Etzels don't compete in many rally races, their lone chance of reaching the national race is by winning the qualifier in New Castle.

"I've thought about winning (at Akron)," Adam said. "I don't know if it can happen, but it'd be cool.

"I like meeting all of the different people at the races."

Brian said he enjoys "doing things with family - especially this."

The family spends the equivalent of two full days in the preseason tearing apart and rebuilding their cars. They race on Memorial Day and Labor Day in Freeport, at a spring and fall rally in New Castle, and at the Akron Qualifier.

It's a light enough schedule to permit the boys to experience other activities. Both are in the Cub Scouts. Brian plays basketball and Adam plays soccer.

Both figure on racing soap box derby through age 17.

"The key is they don't care if they win, they don't care if they lose," their father said. "They do it for the fun of it."