When should I…
My COM for this car…
I plan on making 3 cars this year. One for my son…
I am hoping I am mistaking these quotes for their context, but I think I am not. If I am wrong I apologize for making a mistake of your meaning.I kept those wheel/axle combos together and prepped them. I grooved the axle…
In my spare time I help a friend of mine with Cub Scout and AWANA races, at least 2 times this season I have witnessed events that show that some individuals are still taking over the build:
The first time I was passing the inspection table, when I saw a scout open a padded case with 3 cars in it, whenever I see a kid carrying a plastic case with cars in It I must stop and look, the scout asked his mentor ”which one is mine?”. The mentor sort of embarrassedly laughed it off and pointed to the kid’s car.
The second time I saw a team cheering for their car on its first time down the track. When the cars crossed the finish line the scout thought he had won (it was not a close race). The mentor said your car is the blue one, the car that had come in second.
Had either of these scouts had even a small part of the build? I’m thinking not. Did they even have a choice of color for their car?
Back in 2007 my son had just completed his 2nd pinewood derby. His Whitewalls McQueen car had just taken 1st place in the wolf den. When racing was complete he was watching the other scouts racing their cars on the floor and into the walls. I took out his car and handed it to him, he looked back at me with a strange look. I said to him if you want to go racing with the other scouts he could. I was hoping he would not take me up on this offer, but it was his car, he had put a lot of time in on this build. He said if I wreck this car we cannot go to the district meet and race again, and why would I want to wreck my car. I was relieved.
To this day my son, entering his 4th year of Boy Scouts, comes along with me to Pinewood Derbies and sets up a display of our collection of cars and talks to both kids and adults about building cars that look like cars. Many parents/mentors come up to me and compliment me on how my son is so knowledgeable in the construction of cars and is willing to share his knowledge. Here is a picture from last year:
This is what the pinewood derby is all about, teams working together to make a car to race, it is not about winning. It is about learning while building, racing and showing good sportsmanship. If all you want to do is be the fastest maybe the pro boards are for you. You will not find many sharing how to be fast… This is why DerbyTalk is here. Thanks Randy for all you do!
Sorry for the rant, remember there is no “I” or “me” in “TEAM” (I really despise this quote, but it seems to fit here).
Andy