The 4th Annual Oakfield Box Car Derby was held on Bennett Avenue in Oakfield on Saturday afternoon. 26 racers participated in two age groups, 13 and under and 10 and under. The derby encourages interest in STEM, introduces basic car-building skills, and gives participants the chance to assemble, customize, and race their own cars.
Racers received their cars 2-3 weeks before the race.
“This gives them time to customize them the way they would like,” says Scott D’Alba, organizer.
“My favorite part if it is seeing how they do their cars up from year to year and see how they get creative. The winners today, they’re kids that have been coming since we started four years ago and they have finally broken through in the winner’s division, so it’s good to see that.”
The event is held in memory of Suzanne “Sue” D’Alba, one of the founders of the Oakfield Betterment Committee and the Oakfield Labor Daze Festival, as well as a dedicated volunteer and member of many other civic organizations. She loved classic community events, and we believe this derby reflects that spirit.
“I think this is something my mother would have really liked so that’s why we do it. It’s all done by volunteers who are mostly family and friends.”
This year, for the first time, racers had the opportunity to arrive an hour early and take a few test runs.
“Because there have been kids in the past that their first run through ever was a race. I didn’t feel that was fair. I wanted to give them a chance to see what it feels like to use the brake, use the steering, so when they get in a race, they would feel comfortable.”
U13 winners-left photo- from left Brynn Schildwaster (1st place), Forrest Freanklin-Hewitt (2nd place), Ty Roth (3rd place) U10 winners-right photo- from left, Carter Nickels (3rd place), Carter Austin 2nd place, and Alex Puls (1st place)
The event is the only box car derby in Genesee County this year and was open to residents throughout the county and the GLOW region. Winners placed 1st through 3rd and received a trophy. First place winners were also provided with one pizza a month for a year from Santino’s Pizza in Oakfield.
Pictured from left- Scott D’Alba(organizer), Ty Roth, Forrest Freanklin-Hewitt (2nd place U13), Chris Marcitt (organizer), Brynn Schildwaster (1st place U13), Alex Puls (1st place U10), Joel D’Alba (organizer), Carter Nickels (3rd place U10), front Carter Austin (2nd place U10)
VIDEO-U10 First place finish-August 1, 2026
VIDEO-U13 First place finish-August 1, 2026 Bryn Schildwaster
D’Alba says the GCEDC and Chris Suozzi assisted the Boxcar Derby in getting started.
“They used a grant to help us get our ramps the first year and now we have an agreement with them where we keep the ramps and if anybody else in the county decides to have an event and want to use them, we’ll allow them to do that, because we’d like to see this sport grow across the county.”
