Here is a link to the Pinewood Derby stories of years gone by. We thought we had a freak year last year when S and E both won first place in the Scout and sibling divisions. This year, we followed our same methods: we let the kids choose what shape to make their cars, we let the kids choose what colors and what paints to use, we aligned the wheels, we had the boys sand and sand the axles before we packed them with graphite, and hoped for the best. M had a business trip and was gone for several days leading up to the race and I've been sick for a month-so there wasn't a lot of time and energy for the cars.
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| Just a little skirt I whipped up this morning! |
This year there was one boy who kept after S saying, "I'm going to beat you this year!" S wasn't the only kid getting pressure from this particular boy. We told S that someone else should have a turn to take first place. We told IJ that he knows probability, figure out the odds of winning (1:40). So root for your friends and the chances of someone you like placing will increase. After all, the trophy is just a piece of plastic (and the Piston Cup is just an empty cup-I love Pixar's Cars). The whole point of the Pinewood Derby is to do something fun with your friends for an entire afternoon and practice your good sportsmanship.
Here were the results:
Winner for Most Patriotic Car (IJ)
Winner for Fastest Bear Car (S)
Winner for Fastest Webelos I Car (IJ)
Second place for Sibling Division (E-the little girl on the right)
Third place for Scout Division (S)
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| "You mean, I took First?" ~IJ |
FIRST PLACE!!!
The races are timed with a sensor and differences are down to the hundredths of a second, sometimes thousandths of a second.
One couldn't even see the difference with their eyes. One set of times had IJ's friend in first place with 3.136 seconds and IJ in second place with 3.146 seconds. IJ's fastest time was 3.1330 seconds. IJ's friend only lost the fastest Webelos I award by 0.003 seconds! The computer
analyzes the race data after everyone races once and reassigns racing
"partners" for the next round of heats. You can pretty much tell who is
going to win the derby by the third round because the same boys are
racing together. And our group consisted of IJ, S, and two other boys.
I recorded the races and every time my heart rate would increase and I
would feel like I couldn't breathe; I actually experienced chest pains. After the third round, when IJ
broke the speed record for the second time, I had to leave and splash
cold water on my face. It was just too stressful. I was worried I was going to burst into tears! Must have been a pregnant lady thing.
If there is any kid in our pack that deserves to win, it is my IJ. He is one of the few boys that takes Scouting values seriously. The boy who took second is another serious Scout in IJ's den (he is the one who did the puppet show with IJ at the Blue and Gold ceremony). Although I dreaded going to the Pinewood Derby and sitting there for four hours (M had to sit there for eight because he set up and cleaned up), it turns out our family was blessed with the luck of the D Family Irish ancestors.
This is one proud family!
