I've posted Part 1 of how to build a Pinewood Derby racer; I expect to have Part II up tomorrow. Suffice to say, there's an awful lot of work that goes into building a 7" long car; even more work actually getting an 8 year old boy interested in investing the sweat equity necessary to have a winning car. And therein lies the rub: The boys are supposed to do as much of the car as they can; the dirty little secret being that some dads do most or even all of the work. Not everyone, of course, but enough that people talk.
The Boy did the lion's share of the work on his car this year; I basically helped with anything that involved power tools or hammers and that was it. He picked the shape of his car, transferred it to the block, sanded the block after I cut it; he painted the car himself, applied the stickers, polished the wheels, and applied the go-fast graphite.
And he came in third place - I'm so proud of him I could bust.
Last year, however, he took first place. Last year, he was a Tiger Cub and I was his "adult partner", and was allowed by the rules to assist him. Even with a larger field of participants we swept the running, beating the second-place finisher by a decent margin. He was vociferous in voicing his disappointment at missing Regionals (the first and second place winners from each Pack get to go to the Regional Derby); he apparently felt it was owed him.
Well, he thought wrong.
At numerous times over the course of the past two or three weeks he had to be reminded to work on his car. There was always something to distract him, whether playing his Wii games, going sledding, or a favorite TV show that he had to watch. He was reminded that he needed to put the time in working on his car if he wanted to win, and Saturday's showing helped bring that point home in a big way.
There's a lot of preparation involved in running a successful Pinewood Derby. The night before the race we have a "Check-in Night" where all participants must bring their cars for inspection and Check-in. All cars are thoroughly scrutinized for proper length, weight, and equipment - there's an entire cottage industry around making these minuscule chunks of wood go faster than the other minuscule chunks of wood. Go figure. There's a lot of last minute sanding, chiseling, etc. that goes on as Scouts bring their cars to the proper specifications, but everyone gets checked in the night before the race.
After the Scouts and parents have gone home, the fun really begins. The volunteers and leaders gather to judge the "Most Creative" cars, and it's harder that it might seem. This year alone we had Luke Skywalker's landspeeder (my favorite); a recycling truck complete with tiny glass bottles; a bowling pin; Franken-Car; a surfboard; and a rolling bathtub. Once the cars have been sequestered we set up the track and test the racing software (and wound up spinning our wheels for nearly an hour as the Committee Chair's shiny new Vista laptop wouldn't play nice with the track's electric eye and we had to find a back-up laptop!).
We arrive about a half-hour before the start of the race on the Big Day to get the "Pitstop Café" going (we sell coffee and donuts to help offset the cost of the trophies and such). The first race (this year we went in Rank order - Tigers/Wolves/Bears/WeBeLoS I/WeBeLoS II) started promptly at 9:00 with all 5 participating Tiger Cubs present; we ran through that heat in less than 10 minutes... The Wolves were the second largest group (11 boys) and that took us less than a half hour.
We experienced an unfortunate series of technical difficulties with the Bears, our largest group (13 boys, and yes I am very superstitious!). Our Committee Chair who ran the computer program inadvertently erased heats 2-13; then the Cubmaster accidentally stopped the timer on the third race; and finally I put the wrong car up on the track for one of the heats. D'OH!!! We got through it with minimal complaints, though - a lot less from the boys than from the parents, I might add - and finished the WeBeLoS I and IIs with no incidents (of course each of the WeBeLoS only had 6 participants each).
We ran several "Grudge" matches - father against son (The Boy beat me, twice), brother against brother (and sister; and I did at least come in faster than my daughter's pony car). Once these were done, though, it was time for the highlight for the grown-ups - the adult races. Yes, our Pack conducts races at the very end for any and all who want to enter a car - Moms, Dads, sisters, older brothers, even grandfathers. I had a car and so did my daughter; our Cubmaster had his own car (an "I" beam!) and raced against his wife and both sons (one a WeBeLoS II, the other a Boy Scout). The adult races are a lot of fun, as there's less pressure (no one's going on to Regionals!) and the entries are pretty wild.
It's a lot of fun, but it is both physically and mentally exhausting. It is the culmination of literally weeks of planning, cajoling volunteers, helping the new Scout parents, and good ol' sweat equity (them tracks is heavy!). I'm very glad it's only once a year. The lessons it teaches, though, are invaluable: Sportsmanship, craftsmanship, workin together... I got to spend quality time with both my son *and* my daughter out in the workshop happily sanding our little pinewood boxes, or at the workbench polishing axles, or sitting down to the kitchen table to paint our creations. The Scouts learn how to win - and lose - with grace and dignity (and so do the parents).
Everybody leaves with something, even if it's just plans in their head for "what we're gonna do next year".
And as a parting shot, here's the G. family cars:
Pretty cool, huh?
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post, Part II and conclusion to "So, You Want To Build A Pinewood Derby Racer". I'll cover sanding, weighting, and finishing touches you can apply to your car. The main reason I built my car (the one on the left; The Boy's third place winning car is the sleek model in the middle) was to document the process in a very thorough, detailed manner so I can produce a sort of "Pinewood Derby for Dummies" for the new parents when it's my turn at the helm next year.
And not for nothing, I came in a very respectable fourth place out of the adults - a field of 29 cars, mind you!
That is all.
1 comment:
I was gonna guess yours was the prancing pony model.
The wedge seems to work most of the time although it really depends upon weight distribution, wheel dynamics and how the track is running. My son's top place car ran best going down the track backwards and with one wheel slightly off the track (less friction). Someone actually gave me a 28 page technical manual made by an engineer on how to make a winning car.
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