Local girl lives dream in unique Soap Box Derby car built by Kiwanis Club member

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The annual Soap Box Derby is here, and for one local girl, she’s getting to live her dream in a unique way… but what makes Gabi so special?

“It was a congenital birth defect, so it’s just how she was born. Legs didn’t develop below the knee… so totally normal up and all the way down to the knee… but then beyond that, they just didn’t develop,” her father Travis Bilbrey says.

That hasn’t stopped her from doing what she loves though, as she wanted to make her way down the hill at Phil Moore Park on her own.

“After she raced Super Kids last year, she felt like she wanted to give it a shot at driving her own car. So the folks here from the Kiwanis Club and Soap Box Derby were very accommodating and helpful and they sourced parts for her,” Travis says.

This equipment is custom-made for Gabi’s situation by one Kiwanis Club member.

“Rather than pushing a pedal with your legs, you pull back on the handle and actually use the brake. What we found after installing that was Gabi, 46 pounds… very difficult to hold and maintain that pressure. She went down four times, she crashed four times,” David Holland with Signature Signs says.

So how exactly does the brake work?

“It takes a paintball gun compression cylinder and with the flip of a switch, it actually weights up the plunger and stops her,” Holland explains.

Gabi says she’s excited to race on her own this year, adding her favorite part of racing is either the drive or winning trophies. David is honored to help her achieve that goal.

“It’s the biggest reward of the whole thing. If you’re just paired with a child, it can be Gabi. It can be any child. It’s what makes it worthwhile, because it does get hectic… and there’s a lot of parents… they get involved. But the kids are truly innocent and they’re dreaming and they’re focusing on having a good time,” he says.