The two winners of this year's local Soap Box Derby, cousins Allyson McHughs, 11, of Jackson and Zachary McHughs, 9, of Thebes, Ill., are returning home today with their families after spending last week in Akron, Ohio, at the All-American Soap Box Derby.

The annual international event had 606 entries this year.

They traveled to Ohio on July 18 and attended events leading up to Saturday's race. Both children were eliminated in morning races, but Cory McHughs, Zachary's father, said the children have been on the trip of a lifetime.

"It's been a very long week, but every day there's been something fun for them to do," McHughs said.

On Friday, Zachary and Allyson were among the racers to be honored on the field at Akron's minor league baseball park. The children also visited Lake Erie and went to the Akron Zoo, said Allyson's mother, Heather.

"It went awesome," Zachary said. He said he also liked being escorted by police in Akron for a parade.

"Going down that hill for the first time was the most fun," Allyson said, "and I'm just tickled that I'm here. I'm hoping to race superstock next year."

Cory McHughs said what stood out to him was how nicely everyone was treated and how that made the children feel.

"Everybody up here calls them 'champs,' because that's what they are, they are the champions of their local area," he said. "These kids really feel like something up here. They get to feel very important, and it's great."

The families were helped by the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club to go on the trip but also did some of their own fundraising. Zachary and his mother, Becky, were able to raise $350 by selling candy bars at Southeast Missouri Hospital, where she is employed. Cory McHughs said the hospital also lent the children the car they used for the race in Akron.

He said he and the children were impressed with paint jobs on other cars.

"The only thing I wish could change is that we could get more sponsors," he said. "But we got a lot of help with everything, including tools."

He said Mike Rushing of Rushing Marine in Jackson supplied tools to use on the car.

Both children said they were looking forward to racing next year in Cape Girardeau, although they will have to switch divisions. According to the rules, a driver who has won a division can never race again in that division. In Cape Girardeau, Allyson won the stock division and Zachary won the superstock division.