That could change in January, when ABCRI plans to open a new gravity-powered raceway in Kunia unlike any in the world.

For five years, ABCRI, a popular track on which some 25,000 youngsters a year learned driving safety, operated on city land behind Sam's Club. When the city sold that land to Wal-Mart, youthful racers were out of luck, and ABCRI was temporarily out of business.

"We had to vacate on very short notice in June," said Pauline Worsham, ABCRI community resource specialist. "Since then, we have been working very hard with engineering, planning and architectural firms to complete our plans and obtain the permits to construct Phase I of our new facility — basically two tracks and a classroom — so that we can open up again."

B.C. Cowling, founder of ABCRI and a former world champion go-cart racer, says the Pearl City raceway met its end through an economic reality. But that also paved the way for the new and improved track.

To understand the difference between old and new, one must first understand the mission of ABCRI, and the distinction between soap box racers and Cowling's box cars, which are built to be far more maneuverable.

"The Soap Box Derby, which has been around for 70 years, is terrific," Cowling said. "But basically it's an engineering contest. The cars are designed to go straight down a hill. We're a driving skill contest. We are the only one that goes around corners."

The tracks at the new raceway will be 400 feet long. Box cars will accelerate to speeds of 10 to 15 mph down a ramp, and keep a fairly consistent speed, because the curved tracks are on a sculpted incline. The incline is what makes the new Pearl City raceway different from the old one.

Because the box cars travel so close to the ground, the speeds will feel much faster than the same speed in a car.

Educational mission

"We feel that one of the problems with the rash of street racing is that youngsters have not gotten safe driving skills deeply instilled in them," Cowling said. "So we're teaching them how to go around corners, how to drive smoothly, how to brake, how to look out for somebody else and how to follow the rules of the road.

"And we fill a need in the community for kids to get involved," he added. "They can come and get involved in the box car race track."

Worsham says enthusiasm for the new track concept has been overwhelming.

"We received hundreds of calls from parents, kids, relatives, schools and organizations who have used the facility and want to get it up and running," she said.

Include Alma Grocki and her two sons, Nick, 9, and Dan, 10, in that category.

"The kids were disappointed when it closed down because it was right before the summer," said Grocki, whose family lived near the raceway and got involved in box car activities. "Dan, who did volunteer work at the track, had envisioned spending days there.

"We had birthday parties there. The kids just had a riot. You'd think that after a while they'd get tired of it, but they never did."

Donations needed

Among the organizations that supported the new raceway was Wal-Mart, which made an initial $11,000 donation and has pledged $24,000 more. The city donated two unused acres for the raceway in the back of its Royal Kunia park-and-ride facility at 94-640 Kupuohi St.

ABCRI itself must come up with the $400,000 to finance the project. So far, it has collected about half the money for the first phase.

The last leg, however, has turned into an uphill climb.

"We're short on money," Cowling said. "We need donations from private individuals and local corporations. The foundations of Hawai'i have been very supportive, but they are tapped out. A lot of that is the aftermath of 9/11."

Still, Cowling is confident Phase I will be ready in January, and Phase II will become a reality soon after that.

"When it's finished, it will have three box car tracks. It will have pavilions for participants and drivers. It will have a classroom shop for working on box cars.

"We will have a free youth program in summers, weekends and holidays where kids can come to track and work on cars, get their hands dirty and help us maintain the cars. That's a lot of opportunity for kids to learn how to work with their hands, how to fix stuff. It increases their self-esteem."

One driver who can't wait is 10-year-old Dan Grocki.

"I thought the box car track was really cool," he said. "I guess kids my age just like to move fast. Oh, yeah — I'll be going to the new raceway. That one is really going to be cool."