Pinewood Derby Action!

My nephew built a car (I provided tools and sort-of adult supervision at his mom's request) last week and raced Saturday. As you can see, it brought home a trophy, and he was pretty happy with the whole process:

His was a metallic-blue basic wedge with a startline V, per his design. Simple and effective. Weights were inletted into the bottom. With more time, I would have suggested fairing them in with plastic wood or Bondo. The shiny bits on the top middle are prism stickers to camouflage zits in the paint.

My scale had his car right at 5.0 ounces. At tech, it was just under, so he added the small rectangular weight at the top rear. I told him to refer to it as a wickerbill or Gurney flap.

More (not so good) photos:

Gary: A crowd favorite

Justin Beiber Bus (a sister entry)

A close race:

My track and finish line photos did not come out well. My fault, but I'll blame the camera, the lighting, phase of the moon, Girl Scout cookie buzz ... Think of them as impressionist art.

Yes, the yellow car is going the right way.

Photo finish:

"I'll need to see your Whittlin' Chip and registration, sir." (The trooper was a judge for the non-racing trophies)

Anyone else have PWD photos? Post 'em!

Congrats to your nephew!

Don't have pictures yet, but my son did his first PWD this weekend. I won't go into some long rant, but I found it pathetic to say the least. There were about 50 cars there. My guess is that 40-45 of them had 90%+ of the build done by the father/grandfather/uncle. There is no way on earth a 7 year old would have done the kind of work these cars had. My son did 75% of the work on his car, I only helped in places where he could have gotten hurt. My son's car was one of the slowest. Besides either of us not having any woodworking skills, one of the slots where the wheel is required to go split when we put the nail in, so that was an issue.

At the end of the day, my son had a great time, even though his car was coming in last most of the time. I enjoyed every second of working with him, so I will always cherish that. So don't think my post is sour grapes. But the derby itself, pretending to be a competition for young kids and help build their skills/self esteem, is an absolute joke. Next year, I think I'm going to put a sticker on the car that says "Proudly built by an 8 year old...not a 40 year old".

we need to add this to the 200X (20XX?) challenge

Isn't it the same way in Soapbox Derby cars? They still have those, don't they?

Klayfish wrote: Next year, I think I'm going to put a sticker on the car that says "Proudly built by an 8 year old...not a 40 year old".

You mean, "your son" is going to put a sticker on...

I've gotta say, I'd root for the Bieber Bus. You have to love race cars with jewels. And slant, your nephew looks pretty happy with how things worked out.

Here's my favorite PWD picture. Dad used to work for Peninfarina and was an awesome guy. We lost him to liver cancer a couple of years back, he lay in state in an Elvis costume. It's quite possible he had a hand in the construction of each of these, but knowing Russ the kids were fully involved.

Klayfish wrote: Congrats to your nephew! There is no way on earth a 7 year old would have done the kind of work these cars had. ... My son's car was one of the slowest.

I understand questioning some of the cars. I will say, having been a cub, dad, den leader, and general fan, kids CAN do very good work when shown how. My usual technique is to show the kids each step on my car. I seldom even touch theirs. I saw a Tiger Cub make a beautiful car. He spent an amazing amount of time sanding (too young to whittle, and his dad didn't even want him using saws). His dad closely supervised priming and painting, but the kid did it himself. Woodworking isn't really that much of the speed, barring breakage like your son experienced. The speed is mostly in the axles, less in the wheels. Clean up the fins and polish. polish, polish. The wheels are much better than they used to be, BTW. There is a lot of info available online, and yes, the learning curve can be steep.

Looks like some $20.12 Challenge action. GET EXCITED PEOPLE! Yea, I yelled it.

The brothers that beat Tanners PWD just went to the Michigan Multi Pack PWD and finished 1-2 as well. They contend that the boys did all of the work, while I am skeptical I have no proof.

Very cool. Do we need to start featuring scale cars--Pinewood Derby racers, plastic models, etc.--in the magazine?

Tanners Screaming Greenie ( I referred to it as Aerobooger)

David S. Wallens wrote: Very cool. Do we need to start featuring scale cars--Pinewood Derby racers, plastic models, etc.--in the magazine?

Click the +1 people... click the +1

In reply to John Brown:

Plus one.

Maybe call it "not that Mini."

David S. Wallens wrote: Very cool. Do we need to start featuring scale cars--Pinewood Derby racers, plastic models, etc.--in the magazine?

Maybe, even as a little sidebar. Extra consideration for models of real cars, and extra extra to cars matching the builders' real cars.

David S. Wallens wrote: Very cool. Do we need to start featuring scale cars--Pinewood Derby racers, plastic models, etc.--in the magazine?

Hell yeah, if you do let me know. I'll be happy to do a write up about my sons' car and the work and pride he put into it. And I promise I'll keep my personal views about the competition out of it, just focus on the fun of the father/son build.

David S. Wallens wrote: Very cool. Do we need to start featuring scale cars--Pinewood Derby racers, plastic models, etc.--in the magazine?

Only if you agree to provide scaled down GRM stickers for them. I can see it now, stuck on you and stuck on you junior.