The guy that ran our race had an aluminum track that I believe he said was 46'. But I could for sure be wrong on that. His track record was 3.01. He had a handout with the average speeds for each lane.
Red: 3.4056
Yellow: 3.3936
Blue: 3.4093
Green: 3.3989
So our 3.04 was on the fast side, but not a track record.
The 4 cars are in order from the first one to the most recent. The first car has some fast wheels on it. It was our first pack derby and there were no rules relative to axles and wheels. We put those blue wheels on a lathe and took out every ounce we could without losing the integrity of the wheel. We notched the axles and extended the wheel base. 3 wheels on the ground with the 4th not touching. Canted and rail riding. Lead powered (my son's favorite part of making that car was melting and pouring the lead.) Fast. My 8 year old son and I were called cheaters for what we did to the wheels. The car set the track record for the person running the race, and the dudes that got beat got a little mean about the beating they took.
The next car was our next year, and rules about wheels and axles showed up. However, there was no rule about number of wheels, so we went with 3 wheels. Kept an extended wheelbase, lead powered, and canted rail runners. A different group ran this race and this car set the track record. Other dads in the pack started crying foul play the minute we passed inspection with a 3 wheel car. When we won, the cries of cheating were even louder. My boy went home having had a negative experience when it should have been a great day.
My son didn't compete the next year and we had nobody competing in Pinewood. However, the following year, my next son was in as an 8 year old. When the race came around, there were very detailed rules about everything possible. There was a 4 wheels required, but not all have to touch. So we did the black flame car that year. Did some good wheel and axle work (thanks to my buddy Glen Jewkes that helped teach us some cool things) and once again had nobody even close. We did a shorter wheelbase this time since we had less aggressive wheels and axles so we could stay on the ramp for an extra revolution or 2, and then trusted our alignment to still go fast on the straightaway even with a shorter wheelbase. The hate continued and my 2nd son was told that he was the next in line of a family of cheaters. He is a lot softer than my oldest and was really caught off guard. As it turns out, the automotive metallic paint and clearcoats were the things that set the mob off this time...with cries of "there's no way an 8 year old could do that paint job."
This year we went with the aggressively designed white car. Same rules as the previous year, same track and race official as the previous year. Turns out, that hole in the middle combined with the steep slope of the back part of the car slowed the car down. Went with Tungsten since the available area to hold weight was small and we ponied up for the cubes. But we still won convincingly and he won best in show as well as won the fastest car as well, something we hadn't done before. And our video that was launched with the QR code was awesome. I have a dad that I made that for in particular. He told me he was going to find a way to beat us or expose us as cheaters this year. When I told him that the video was made just for him, he turned red and didn't shoot his mouth off at all. Pretty funny actually.
We each have 3 sons that are the same age so I have 1 more year with this son and then 3 more years with my last son....so 4 more times to have some fun with my boys and with my neighbor. I think he has more than a few grey hairs over the pinewood with us. In the video I shared of him winning the final race, you can hear a boy exclaiming "NO!" It was the older son that had lost against my older son, who was part of the "we are beating you this year" campaign. So it is cool to have the "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" in this video because we know just how much they have moved past the "do this and have a great experience" to "we will do anything to beat those guys."
Here's a video of the 4 cars racing each other. Predictably, the fast wheel original car won. 2nd was the most recent car (the white one), followed by the black flame and finally the 3 wheeler. The black and 3 wheel cars looked like they were dead even. But it is cool how tight the formation is coming in. All cars were pretty fast.
View My Video
Our plan for next year? A wedge with fenders. We will go 3 wheels and glue the 4th wheel to the back like a spare tire...thus having "letter of the law" observance to the 4 must be on the car rule, but only 3 touching.
Good times for sure. Something my boys really look forward to now.
