Fastest Den?

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mehiggins101
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Fastest Den?

Post by mehiggins101 »

Can any of the software packages available quickly determine the fastest den?
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gpraceman
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Re: Fastest Den?

Post by gpraceman »

GrandPrix Race Manager has that ability. It is the "team" standings report, where a team is a race group or subgroup. So, if your race groups are your dens or the dens are subgroups, you can view that report. I'm not aware of any other software that gives you that ability.
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mehiggins101
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Re: Fastest Den?

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Thank you.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but how are the team ranked? We have four kids dens to 14 kid dens.
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gpraceman
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Re: Fastest Den?

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mehiggins101 wrote:Maybe this is a stupid question, but how are the team ranked? We have four kids dens to 14 kid dens.
Average time
Randy Lisano
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Re: Fastest Den?

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I realize gpraceman has answered your question but if I may ask a question. What is your true goal? If the den with 4 scouts are all Webelos and the den with 14 scouts are Tigers, what do you think will happen? I suspect the Webelos that participate are all skilled builders and the Tigers not so much. Even though gp's software can do things that boggles the mind, is this actually fair? I can understand if you would like to race off the 1st place finishers in each group. Everybody likes to see close racing and that one Tiger might just have a surprise for everyone.
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Re: Fastest Den?

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Speedster wrote:I realize gpraceman has answered your question but if I may ask a question. What is your true goal? If the den with 4 scouts are all Webelos and the den with 14 scouts are Tigers, what do you think will happen? I suspect the Webelos that participate are all skilled builders and the Tigers not so much. Even though gp's software can do things that boggles the mind, is this actually fair? I can understand if you would like to race off the 1st place finishers in each group. Everybody likes to see close racing and that one Tiger might just have a surprise for everyone.
I wish the best for you in your race.
That's a great question. I plan to have a Cubmaster's Cup, awarded to the fastest den, that goes from den to den each year. My goal is to promote sportsmanship and camaraderie within the dens. Currently and rightfully so, den members see each other as competition. The first step to getting a trophy is beating your fellow den members. With my idea--in theory--kids would still want to beat their fellow den members, but would also want them to do well so that the den can win the big glorious trophy. That's the idea, anyway.
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Re: Fastest Den?

Post by Speedster »

This is a Fun Topic and let's keep it Fun. I don't know how far gpraceman is going to let me go with this but let's give it a try. This is my 30th year of studying the "Physics of the Pinewood Derby". My tracks have been used to start cars for scouts for Pack 217 in 1985 and later started cars for their children. I've not gotten any Grandchildren yet. In all those years I can't believe that any scout that works so hard to win the Pack race gives a "Hoot" about what his den does. He wants to advance to District and win that also. I understand some have Council races which we do not. The Pinewood Derby is not a Team Sport. There are Team Sports available to young people. If someone wants to learn how to build a fast car, buy Troy Thornes book or better yet, read Derbytalk 2 or 3 times a day and also buy Troy Thornes book. If your group offers workshops make a list of teams that take advantage of them. In all fairness, make sure the workers at the workshops know what they're talking about. Would I ever award a Den Trophy? No. Let us know how the parents feel about the Den trophy.
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Vitamin K
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Re: Fastest Den?

Post by Vitamin K »

Den Trophies might give boys a "second chance" to stay interested in the races. Say their car tanks and they know they won't win an individual trophy...but hey, if the Den does well, maybe there's still some reason to stick around and cheer?
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Re: Fastest Den?

Post by Speedster »

Good Point. I'm now interested to know if 101 runs everyone together or if they compete Den by Den. If they race Den by Den, I can't quite picture a family waiting 3 or 4 hours to find out who won the Den trophy. If they race them all together everyone would know at the same time. I'm hopeful mehiggins 101 will let us know how everything went after they hold their race.
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Re: Fastest Den?

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Speedster wrote:Good Point. I'm now interested to know if 101 runs everyone together or if they compete Den by Den. If they race Den by Den, I can't quite picture a family waiting 3 or 4 hours to find out who won the Den trophy. If they race them all together everyone would know at the same time. I'm hopeful mehiggins 101 will let us know how everything went after they hold their race.
Our pack has between 30 to 40 Cubs. This year, it's 32, but we could be about 35 by PWD time. Anyway, my point there is we are a small enough pack that the day goes by fast enough that pretty much everyone stays for the whole race. Plus, we do all trophies at the very end. Maybe our families are a little crazy, but the vast majority do stick around for the whole event.
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Re: Fastest Den?

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Do you race all scouts at the same time?
mehiggins101
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Re: Fastest Den?

Post by mehiggins101 »

No, we actually race each den and then the top three from each den. Most of the kids seem to like watching the cars race. As long as we move quickly and have good announcing, they seem to stay pretty dialed in. We do have other activities.
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