Derby Talk

We just started a new racing series this year for the Royal Ambassadors at our church in Mississippi called the Royal Cup Racing Series. Each Month we have a race themed around a different mission organization. We race the last wednesday of each month and on the Sunday before each race the boys bring their cars to church and solicit sponsorship for their car. We then donate all the sponsorship to that month's mission organization. The boys earn points for how they place in the race, amount of mission money raised, Bible memory verses, and we do bonus point from time to time for special events. Coming up in May, we are going to open this series up to the entire community, hoping that we can reach kids in our community that don't have a church to call home. So far we've increased our membership in RA's by almost 50%!! I just wanted to throw this out there, in case anyone else would like to start something like this.

GREAT IDEA!! Do the boys make new cars every month ? If they do ,I would think that much pinewood derby would be too much for some parents. We thought about getting sponsors for our annual race. Money going to Annie Armstrong missions. We usually have walk-a-thons and bike-a-thons. We'll give your idea a shot. Thanks for sharing!!

We buy the boys car kits once a year, but if they choose to build a new one during the season that's fine also. We also have "loaner cars" for guests that they bring to the races so no one gets left out. So far this season I don't know of anyone who has done more than 3 cars. We have one child in our group who's grandfather is retired and spends a ton of time working on cars not only for his grandson, but for kids who don't have a Dad at home as well. We strive to make it fair for all kids but the bottom line is that the racing accounts for less than 20% of the total points available. Kids who show up every week, do their memory verses, and raise mission money do very well. As a matter of fact our top 2 points leaders haven't placed in the top five of a single race yet!! We only have 2 more races to go this season and I am so proud of all of the kids who have participated in this. One thing I forgot to mention was that we also have penalties for mis-behaviour. We are always open to new ideas as well, so if you think of something, please let me know.

"Royal Cup Racing Series - Racing to spread the message of Christ throughout the world!"

Were there any problems starting this series? We have a small church in a small town that is looking to interest some Father/Son and or Daughter or Mother/Daughter and or Son Teams for Christian Fellowship.

I have run pinewood derby at our annual Community Days with a lot of success.

I am open to any suggestions you might have.

Welcome engineer.

This is a pretty old thread and the above members might not be active anymore. A quick check reveals neither of them have posted anything since 2006. I think it sounds like a really good idea though. It seems like a nice idea to have an aspect that rewards more than the racing in a setting designed to promote fellowship like that.

Randy