Overlooking the capital city from U.S. Route 1 on Saturday afternoon, eight year-old Tanner Flint was prepared for the worst. Matching his elder brother Bryce, wearing a NAPA race suit, the two represented B&T Racing during the fourth annual West Columbia Kinetic Derby.

"I'm feeling excited and I think I have some ideas if something wrong happens,” said Tanner, at the start line before his first ever derby race, “So, if the brakes don't work, I’ll steer into the hay and it will stop me. And if the steering breaks, I'll just pull the brakes and that will stop me. And if I make it all the way down, then I pull the brakes at the finish line.”

Last year the brothers came out as spectators with their dad. This year, with the help of another generation, they had a blue and white replica Indy car to race. “My grandpa put together that car. He's really good at building things,” said Bryce Tanner.

Evelyn Eddy, with Girl Scout Troop 3395, also found herself in the seat of derby car with help from her grandfather.

"My mom has loved the soapbox derby and she wanted to come and my grandad was nice enough enough to build us a car. And then we decorated it to try to promote getting rid of plastic in our waterways, because it's really a problem,” said Evelyn, who is working on her silver award project for Scouts.

Featuring recycled plastics, many screwed to their car, the scouts were inspired by local artist Kirkland Smith.

Copyright 2023 Sean Rayford. All rights reserved

RELATED: 2019 Kinetic Derby - Grits Fly

RESULTS

Kids 8-12: 1. JaQwanda Wright (The Void) 2. Samuel Webster (WeCo 1) 3. Emily Hall (Child’s Play)

Kids 13-17: 1. Lincoln Pettus (Whetzel’s Auto) 2. LC Wright (South Paw) 3. Landon Gruber (2 Much Sauce)

Adults (Speed): 1. Robbie Martin (Double Barrow) 2. Larry Hall (Strike 3) 3. John Dulaveris (Beer Badgers)

Adults (Art): 1. Ryan McCue (Intraction) 2. Robin Ridgell (Thompson’s Funeral Home) 3. Martin Alexander (Starting Over)

Artistically Creative Roller: Coffee Breaks

Recycled Art: Fantastic Plastic

Designers Dream: Dirty Pool

Golden Radar: Lincoln Pettus (Whetzel’s Automotive)

Obstacle Master: Larry Hall (Strike 3)

Team Spirit: South Paw

Most Heroic Stunt Work: Strike 3

Radical Ensemble Performance: Intraction

About the author: Sean Rayford is a South Carolina photographer specializing in photojournalism and documentary photography. Rayford has lived in Columbia, SC since 1997.