The track was a Best Track with the old curve section and was about 35' or 42' long. I forgot to count the number of sections.
The curve piece was about 7' long with a very small radius at the beginning of the section. The curve itself is not a single continuous curve but has about 3 mini bends with mini straight sections within it, all within a very short space. Strange. At least this year the track was aligned well, without any cars hitting a bad joint, like last year. It was the same pack's track as last year.It was a lane rotation format on 3 lanes, with the lowest cumulative time winning. I need to go through the video and get his times yet, but he was one of a handful that got under 2.900" per run.
He was VERY surprised, as he wasn't keeping track of his times vs. the others. He actually thought that he hadn't won anything after hearing 5th through 2nd place winners announced. He did have fun during the racing, which is definitely important.
Thanks Stan for giving me assurance on his shim of the left rear axle and how it made the car roll easier. It went down the hill quickly, beating his opponents to the start of the transition every time, and pulled away down the stretch, with nary a wiggle.
Thanks to all (way too many to acknowledge individually who have helped over the last few years with techniques, concepts, and suggestions. Our build process has improved.
The most fun was the build, as I had inherited my dad's old Dremel Moto-Shop scroll saw. It was the first power tool I ever used when my dad helped me build my Pinewood Derby cars way back when. I fixed it up and showed it to my son. I said "We need to cut some rectangular holes for your weights." He said "But we would have to cut through the side, and that would ruin the car. It can't work." He was thinking.
I said "But I have a trick!" His ears perked up and he watched me drill two holes, one in front of the rear axle area and one behind. I then removed the blade from the scroll saw, threaded it through the front hole,... His eyes widened in realization and said "I didn't know you could do that!" After mounting the blade back in the saw, I put his hands on his car and mine on his, and together we cut the hole, very slowly, with me explaining what we were doing and why. We repeated the process for the other hole. Of course we did other work together, including working the axles and wheels. He did all the painting.I have fond memories of building my Pinewood Derby cars with my dad, even though I never won a race. I hope my boys have fond memories when they're my age of me helping them build their cars. To me, that's what this is all about.
