Hall of Famer Jadyn Vogel eyes unprecedented seventh straight Quincy Derby title

QUINCY — Jadyn Vogel has let the world know her secret.

There is no arguing Vogel’s success in the Quincy Derby — formerly known as the Soap Box Derby — has been unparalleled. The 13-year-old enters Saturday’s event with six straight championships in the Stock Division and will be a prohibitive favorite to add to her derby cache.

So how does Vogel do it? Vogel, who will be introduced prior to the start of the 18th annual event sponsored by the Quincy Optimist Club as the newest member of the derby’s hall of fame, said she drives by sense of … touch.

Touch?

“When you’re in the car, it’s hard to see because you have to keep your head so low (to reduce the drag effect of the air as the car rolls downhill),” Vogel explained.

As a result, the precocious Quincy Junior High student has memorized both concrete lanes of the derby track on the 18th Street Hill that sits in between Quintron Way and Bob Mays Park.

“I have learned to ‘hear’ the bumps on both sides of the track,” she said.

She always knows exactly where she is, and what to expect next from the surface beneath her car. That ability has helped her stay in the desired racing line she prefers, a tremendous advantage in an event that sees its outcomes decided by tenths and hundredths of a second. Vogel enters the weekend with a derby-best 58-14 career record, including a staggering 50-6 mark in the Stock class.

How dominant has Vogel been? She has 11 more victories than any other racer who has competed over the first 17 years, and 20 more than the third-most successful racer. Among other active drivers, there is only one — Tyler Wisely (35-12) of Coatsburg — who is within 30 victories of Vogel. 

“Every year it gets crazier,” said Christi Vogel, Jadyn’s mom and biggest supporter. “I can’t believe we’re still going. It’s been fun every single year. I don’t think either one of us ever expected to even win races, let alone championships, when we started.”

Ray Wilson of the Optimist Club has been with the derby since its 2005 inception and served as executive director since 2012, is amazed at both Vogel’s overall success and consistency.

Christi Vogel recalls that her daughter’s derby career got off to a rough start in 2015. Jadyn Crashed in her first race.

“She never wanted to race again, but I told her to get back in the car,” Mom remembers. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Surprisingly, Christi Vogel said that Jadyn’s hot rod does not receive any kind of special treatment.

“Once the racing is done, the car just gets put up on the rack until next year,” she said. “We don’t even look at until the next year rolls around.”

Along with the victories, Jadyn Vogel has also accumulated quite a few memories that she says will always be “lasting relationships”. 

“I have met so many people, so many nice people,” Jadyn said. 

Jadyn will likely race for another four years. She said this week she plans on racing as long as she can, which is the derby’s 17-year-old age limit for the Stock and Super Stock classes. As usual, Jadyn will also drive a Super Stock car (she’s 8-8 in the class). New this year will be her involvement in the Masters Elite division.

“We’re going to be busy on Saturday,” said Christi Vogel, whose son, Kelan, will be competing in the Super Stock division.”It will all end at some point,” Jadyn said. “I’ve thought about it, but right now I’m just concentrating on racing.”

Scheduled to join Jadyn Vogel in Saturday’s hall of fame ceremonies will be sisters Ali Hamilton and Maddie Hamilton of Keokuk. The Hamiltons will be inducted into the Super Kids portion of the hall of fame. Ali Hamilton won a 2016 Super Kids title. The sisters are both among the top 10 career Super Kids winners, each with 10 victories.

Weekend schedule

The Super Kids race their three divisions on Friday, starting at 9:30 a.m. The Super Stock, Stock and Master Elite classes all race on Saturday, starting around 9 a.m., or immediately following warmups.

Division breakdowns

Here’s how the number of racers in each class looks:

• Super Kids: 68 (record of 109 established in 2019).
• Super Stock: 63 (record of 64 established in 2021).
• Stock: 51 (record of 55 established in 2017).
• Master Elite: 8 (record).
• Total cars: 190 (record of 226 established in 2019).