Pinewood Derby 2017

Our Pinewood Derby experiences have not been terribly successful thus far. Christian has had two awesome looking cars, but they haven't been very fast. In the grand scheme of things, how well they do doesn't matter that much, but it sure is more fun for the kids to not lose every race. Last year we decided that we had enough boys that would go through Cub Scouts that we should probably figure out how to build a decent car. This was the first (and only) Pinewood Derby that we had two boys participating, and as often happens, the third brother begged for a car as well. That meant we had to make THREE cars, so we got started early. Andrew made sure that we finished with plenty of time to spare. He begged Jonathon to work on them every night. He was so excited! The hardest part for him was not playing with it after he was finished.

Jonathon studied up on building techniques and watched Youtube videos. He and the boys spent lots of time filing down and polishing their nails, sanding and graphiting the wheels, and making sure everything was aligned perfectly. They checked the balance of the car and made sure that the weight was placed in the perfect spot. They even slightly raised one wheel to reduce the friction. After the basic construction was finished, the boys chose their own designs, and I helped them paint them. They turned out super cute, but you never know how they will run until that first race. Christian created the "Maui-mobile" after the demigod in Moana, Andrew designed his around Pokemon, and Hyrum wanted an orange snake. Haha! They were great workers.

On the night of the Pinewood Derby, we had a busy day and Andrew had to come straight from soccer practice. Luckily, the cars weighed in perfectly and didn't need any fixes, so we made it in time. They have an awesome group set up the track and run the races. It was efficient and only lasted 45 minutes. Perfect!

Each boy raced in all six lanes against various other cars, but the important factor was how fast they were. The clock determined the top cars rather than how many races they won. Christian and Andrew both had great cars. They were fast and stable, and won nearly every race they were in. They were positively beaming as their names were announced over and over again. After the cub scouts raced, they let anyone else who had made a car, race a few times. Hyrum was jumping up and down with excitement as his car went down the track. He only wanted to race one time to show he was a big kid, and that was enough for him. He was so stinkin' cute!

When the top three were announced, I was surprised that Christian and Andrew weren't in it, but even though they won lots of races, their average times were ever so slightly slower than some of the other cars. Andrew came in 5th place and Christian was 6th out of about 20. It was a definite improvement over previous years, and the fact that they won a lot of races really made it a total success for them. All the boys were given creative, funny awards for their participation. Andrew got the "Gotta Catch 'Em All Racer" and Christian's was "The Most Welcoming Racer." They are already talking about how they can improve their cars even more next year. I'm so glad it was a good experience for them.

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