Districts not off to a good start..

[j.m.]

Tonight we had the set-up, early registration, and test. We had the track up and running early so cars could be tested and teams had the ability to tune and or make nessesary adjustments. So when we whent to see if our police car would make inspection, we had all kinds of trouble. They keep trying to use the "box" to check width and length. Well the box ended up beeing under size. Our car would not fit, but when measuring our car with a caliper, it was under the max limits. Then we were told the car was not using the original axel slots. Guilty, sort of. They are, but filled in and drilled. That apperently is a no-no, but kicker is, the rules we were given when building the car, were not the rules district is using this year. They changed the axel part for this year, and the rules we were given, and built car by, were last years. District leader is letting it go cause of curcomstances, but still [censored] me off. We follow the rules given, and the car becomes illegal cause of it. We'll see how it goes tomorrow when we register. See if he remembers what we whent through tonight, and car still good to go. He approved it tonight, but didn't register cause of the lights not working, needed to fix that. Not touching the car otherwise, but a little more lube.

[FatSebastian]

We'll see how it goes tomorrow...

Any follow up?

[j.m.]

Ok, follow up...We whent in the next morning at 8. All volunteers had to be there by 8. I was a volunteer, and was there for the whole set-up proccess Night before. Anyway, we go through registration, and we didn't have any issues. The guys checking in remembered the car pretty well. On to race... since my Father-in-law was there to help as well, (he is a higher-up) in scouts, kinda, some of the other volunteers new him pretty well, and the starter for the race was the same guy who starts all of our pack races, we were able to get the guys to turn the lights on for the races, and get them turned off after the race. When the car was put on the track for the first race, the whole crowd whent nuts, camera flashes were going off like crazy, and everyone, kids and parents were just blown away by the car. For the race itself, it was the 3rd fastest car the first round with a time of 2.398. fastest car beeing a 2.389. The 2nd round the car ran a 2.406, and 3rd round the car ran a 2.401. All in all, ended up 6th out of 61 cars. Of the rest of the cars from our pack,(we took 5), the next was 10th, then one was 26th, and another 31st. I am not sure what the last car did. My son got the best design award, and would have taken the judges pick award, but they only give one per boy/car. All in all, with a few issues, the race was alot better then last years, and should be better for next year. My father in law,and I, and our starter will be helping again next year, and we made some suggestions for next year as well. It seemed they were really tuff in some areas of inspection, and slid in others. There was a car that had a craiger speed wheel on it, and the starter really didn't catch it till after it ran the second race. It ran pretty slow, so there was no reason to get the car DQ'd. it appeared, And I assume, that the wheel was used because of messing up the original. and they just whent to hobby shop and got a replacement, not knowing to get them at the scout store. Another car was bourder line sticking past the starting peg, as it was shaped like a bone, and the shape of the end of the bone made the pin sit in that groove a little. Again, it was a slow car, and it would have been a tough call on it beeing ok. No reason to make issue as it was not giving it any advantage. Next year, if my son stays in scouts, it will be his last, he said go for the fast wedge, and forget the looks. He said we couldn't top the reaction of the crowd after this year anyway.

[j.m.]

I will put a clip of the video on youtube, and post it up. The reaction of the crowd gives me a smile everytime I see it. Even if the car finished last, we succeeded in our goal of beeing a show stopper, not a 1st place winner.

[j.m.]

Here is the video of districts. It is 13 min long, and a bit shaky. (small camera).
http://www.youtube.com/embed/h1rCJ6Bg9Do" target="_blank"
From minute 3 to 6, they were rebooting computer, so no real action other than me trying to get some close-ups of car on track. Sorry so shaky, but everyone always said it's a good thing Im not a surgeon.

[drathbun]

That stop section... ouch. Very cool car, though, thanks for the video.

[j.m.]

yeah, the stop section was pretty bad. There was 2 cars that hit and bounced onto the floor, and there were quite a few that bounced around and landed on table. Not sure how that could be different with the way the track is made.

[Speedster]

Beautiful car!!! Very Entertaining.
It appears your District uses a Piantedosi track. Our Pack has recently acquired the same track. I am presently building a brake section that will stop the cars gently. The track is very close to the ground which makes building a brake section very simple. Get a board, or piece of plywood, and space it from the ground the same as the track. Buy 4 pieces of 1/4" by 1 1/2" pine lattice strip. This is a standard size. Make the brake track at least 6' long. Put one lattice strip on top the other with a gradual rise at the beginning. Cover the top strip with sponge drawer liner from Walmart. Lots of colors to choose from. I put a thin piece of metal at the beginning of the hill so the nose of the car would slide first on the metal instead of the sponge. Probably not necessary. The cars should come to a stop in about 4'. Remove all the brake section that is presently behind the timer.
Best of Luck.

[Stan Pope]

yeah, the stop section was pretty bad. There was 2 cars that hit and bounced onto the floor, and there were quite a few that bounced around and landed on table. Not sure how that could be different with the way the track is made.

Before major rework, maybe try 2"X2"X2" cubes of memory foam taped around the track next to the hard stop posts at the end of the track. They dissipate a lot of energy, and I saw no rebound in the memory foam stops that I deployed on 7 tracks in our district races. (I made mine from a "retired" Tempur-Pedic pillow. Bride got a new one and was going to send the old one to the trash can, so cost was nil!)

[Aron]

Congrats Car looks great. That is for sure a rough stop section