Derby Magic Track in 2018
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:35 am
After a 15-year absence our local Back Diamond Girl Scout Council had a wildly successful Powder Puff Derby race. Expecting and planning for maybe 40 girls, we had over 160 girls racing! My four girls represented well, one earning third place for speed (for a block-shaped deer that proves aerodynamics plays a very small role in a winning car) and a most unique design award (three-headed dragoon with removeable wings). We had some cheap third-party block and wheel set and frankly they were pretty [crummy]. Wonky wheels I couldn’t do anything with other than try to lift the worst one and shallow slots that split. I was surprised they earned anything for speed (my other three girls placed 4th 5th and 6th, racing against each other). I worked the pit table, helping people bring cars up to or down to weight (we burned through what extra weights they bought and all of my personal non tungsten supplies in about 20 minutes (I swear we could have used about 100 lbs of weights!) and I saw BSA wheels, AWANA and at least two other types not like the kit my girls were given. That irked me, because I know we could have done a lot better with a “real” kit. I’ll post more on my girls’ racers in a bit.
They had two borrowed Cub Scout tracks (two lane plastic and three lane aluminum) and while they tried hard, management of the event, car handling and more was all done poorly. Cars were touched way too often (dragon ended up with a broken leg, lost spikes and more). But to give proper credit, for first timers, many parts were handled very well and there were no serious parent complaints and the girls had a fantastic time (the most important part). But we’ll work on improving all of that next year.
Having had such a successful race, the Council now wants to invest in a nice 6 lane track and is looking at Derby Magic track, timers, software, the whole nine yards. As my firm goes through its computer refresh this year, I promised I’d donate a laptop to the cause. I’ve been through the older comments and it looks like Derby Magic has made many improvements over the years. Yesterday’s race was my first experience with a plastic Derby Magic track. From the website the last major revision (from a assembly instruction point of view) was November 2012. I see where the frame could use some reinforcing and the stop section is brutal (for the faster cars). It also had a very low finish timer (an issue for my oldest daughters zip line racer since it was a whole half inch shorter than the 5” we were told to plan for). I am not sure the age of that track and it was a simple two lane. The photos on-line don’t show how the framework is modified to handle more lanes.
I’d love to hear from anyone with experience with the more modern version of the Derby magic tracks. Thanks in advance!
Jeff
They had two borrowed Cub Scout tracks (two lane plastic and three lane aluminum) and while they tried hard, management of the event, car handling and more was all done poorly. Cars were touched way too often (dragon ended up with a broken leg, lost spikes and more). But to give proper credit, for first timers, many parts were handled very well and there were no serious parent complaints and the girls had a fantastic time (the most important part). But we’ll work on improving all of that next year.
Having had such a successful race, the Council now wants to invest in a nice 6 lane track and is looking at Derby Magic track, timers, software, the whole nine yards. As my firm goes through its computer refresh this year, I promised I’d donate a laptop to the cause. I’ve been through the older comments and it looks like Derby Magic has made many improvements over the years. Yesterday’s race was my first experience with a plastic Derby Magic track. From the website the last major revision (from a assembly instruction point of view) was November 2012. I see where the frame could use some reinforcing and the stop section is brutal (for the faster cars). It also had a very low finish timer (an issue for my oldest daughters zip line racer since it was a whole half inch shorter than the 5” we were told to plan for). I am not sure the age of that track and it was a simple two lane. The photos on-line don’t show how the framework is modified to handle more lanes.
I’d love to hear from anyone with experience with the more modern version of the Derby magic tracks. Thanks in advance!
Jeff