While it wasn’t quite on the visceral, ear-splitting level of sitting trackside at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday and Sunday featured the latest competition of Arrowhead Ranch Classic Rally Races on Camano Island.

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The group of drivers — many of them locals, but on Sunday there were competitors from California and Nevada — raced two at a time, in Soap Box Derby cars down a slope at Arrowhead Ranch, a picturesque and wildly unique setting with much more to offer than one might notice at first glance.

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Drivers used the occasion to ideally rack up points and earn a spot in national-level racing in the National Rally Race Program. There will be more weekends of local racing at the site on Sept. 21-22, then after a winter break, racing resumes in the spring on May 3-4, 2025.

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According to the organization’s website, the top point-earners in each region are invited to compete in the FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship in Akron, Ohio against other rally champions.

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That event is scheduled for July 13-19, 2025, according to Shannon Rochon, one of the numerous parents who volunteers during the races.

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Soap Box Derby racing has been held at Arrowhead Ranch for nearly 20 years. On Sunday, there was a near-constant level of motion, as cars raced down a gentle hill in a two-lane track that happens to be adjacent to one of the farm’s fields — this one with about 25 cows.

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The animals didn’t appear to be watching the races closely, but they certainly seemed to be entertained by the noise and activity.

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On the opposite side of the 1,000-foot track is a daunting group of attractions at the ranch, which is owned by Randy and Marla Heagle.

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Rochon pointed out many of the features, and it’s not a stretch to say there’s probably something for just about everyone: axe throwing, flower gardens, an outdoor live-music venue, and bars and tents of varying sizes.

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The next highlight for the venue is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, with the grand opening of Little Arrowhead Nature Explorer, or L.A.N.E.

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But the chief attraction on race day, of course, were the races in cars that rely exclusively on gravity and physics to make their way down the track.

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“Safety is the most important thing,” Rochon said.

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One key part of the racing process is that drivers are weighed before they race, so neither has an unfair size advantage.

Then, the same two drivers will race again, but only after the wheels on each of their cars are switched with the other. For the second race, they drive the same cars they drove in the first race, but they do change lanes.

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At the finish line, trucks with modified flatbed trailers load up the cars, four at a time, and drive them back to the starting line area.

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Arrowhead’s version of a pit crew moved with impressive speed and efficiency, taking less than a minute to get the four cars offloaded.

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On one recent race day, Rochon said, players on the Stanwood High School boys basketball team took on the job of unloading the trucks.

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Having so many helpers lends itself to “bringing the community together,” Rochon said enthusiastically.

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