
It was also the inaugural race on the brand new aluminum Derby track purchased by Pack 621. The company which built it, BestTrack, did a fine job - it was everything they billed it as and more. The smart purchase as well was their "Champ" electronic timer which sorted out race results to the *thousandth* of a second - WOW!
Kevin, Patrick, Matt, me and several others trucked the track over in a fine storage box built by Woodworker Jim of the Pack. We built it on Friday night at the Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) church up the road. The have graciously donated their gym the last several years so that we could run a quality race rain or shine. There was a little tinkering that had to be done and a couple of times we had a few things backwards for a minute or two, but by early evening kids were racing and fine-tuning their cars for the BIG race scheduled for the next morning.
Ethan's entry was a last-minute build later that night because when we tried to install his axles/wheels in his car the wood split because he had carved out the body too close to the axle grooves. Much gnashing of teeth and wailing! Luckily he had cut his block of wood down the middle during the Pack's "Build Day" in mid-January. So, we reached into the parts bin, pulled that wedge out, and immediately reached for the orange Krylon. After it dried, I used a T-square to mark some new axle grooves straight as I could, then gingerly sawed those darned grooves. The wheels slotted in perfectly and we went to bed satisfied that we had a decent and hopefully competitive car.



When the Scouts came back from snacks, everyone knew it was serious race time. The margin of difference between a first place finish in the heats now was measured in hundredths of seconds. Whoa! Lots of clapping and cheering.

Eyes of the adults and kids alike were glued on the track and timer as Derby cars built by Ethan, Camden, and Miles raced down the track three times. And three times, the "Krylon Special" of Ethan logged position #1 at the end of the track. Ethan had won the 2010 Pack 621 Pinewood Derby! Fantastic - I'm proud of you son!
Next stop is the "San Diego 500 Grand Prix" at the 2010 Scout Fair at Qualcomm Stadium in April. Until then, the car is under glass: Nobody is touching the Krylon Special!
1 comment:
Yahoo! proud uncle screams ETHAN! ETHAN! ETHAN!I am there with ya. I helped Ethan with year 1 edition the wedge. as I remember he did ok but not like the krylon cruiser-go get em at the finals! first of all have a good ol time. uncle Dave.
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