We went to our first Pinewood Derby with Michael on Friday night. I vaguely recall attending Bob and Don's Derby when they were Scouts, but think this was a much smaller affair. Only sixteen boys from Michael's school participated, with the first place winner then going on to represent the pack at a city-wide Derby.
They still roll the cars down a big wooden track, but now the track is computerized so that everyone's time is automatically recorded, down to the millisecond. The track has four lanes, and each car runs twice on each lane.
We all worked on the car together. Jon carved it and everyone helped with the sanding. Michael painted the black base color, and then I painted on the details, to Michael's specifications. He wanted a red stripe down the middle and flames on the sides. We added red snake eyes, nostrils and sharp teeth, so the other cars would know we meant business. We ended up buying special weights that break off (like sections of a Hershey bar) to customize. We weighed the car at home with a kitchen scale, and thought we were a bit underweight.
It turns out my kitchen scale is woefully inaccurate, and we were overweight. Luckily they allowed us to make on-site adjustments. Jon did some tinkering, and we were able to bring the car up to code in time for the race.
They take the whole thing VERY seriously. Once your car is weighed and accepted, it goes on a table and no one except the officials is allowed to touch it until the race is over.
Despite our bungling, Michael's car won second place (out of 16). It was surprisingly gratifying, because some of our competitors were really into it and had done all this fancy stuff to give their cars an edge. It puts on the pressure for next year, though!
I'll post pictures later, when I get a chance.
Lisa
6 comments:
Second place--quite the accomplishment for a first-time Pinewood Derby racer! I don't think I ever won any trophies when I did the racing, but I think Bob may have--in fact, until recently, there was a newspaper clipping on a bulletin board downstairs at mom and dad's (it may still be there) with Bob and his car...
I don't know John's email address, but you could probably just post a message on his blog, and he would get an email sent to him that he had a comment waiting--at least that's how my blog works...
I'll try contacting John through his blog, though he may not have email notification selected in his settings. I didn't even know about that option until you pointed it out. Very handy! I have mine set up that way now, too.
Good job Michael and family! -uncle Bill
Dear Lisa,
Congratulations on the website; it looks great! We're building quite the little family blog community. Now the pressure is on Mom and Dad, Bob, Lulu, and Billiby!
And congratulations to you Mikey on your showing in the derby! And congratulations to you Emma Rosie on your Daisy scouting! Congratulations all round to the Hurlburt household!
Love JoJoke
Oh, I should also say congratulations, Jon, on your sanding, carving, and last minute adjustments!
JoJoke
Great to hear from you, John! I heard that you recently updated your blog, so I'll check that out next.
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