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Pinewood Derby Stories and Photos from Maximum Velocity
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PINEWOOD DERBY MEMORY
Ending on a High Note
When my son was a Bear in the Cub Scouts, we had just moved into the area and his pack was going to be having their annual Pinewood Derby Race. The year before, in his old pack, he and I built a car that took third overall and won the show and shine award for best paint job. So, we thought we could do well in the Pinewood Derby in his new pack; but we were wrong. When we went to weigh in his car that year I could tell right away that the cars in my son's new pack - with the sleek designs and cool paint jobs - were on a totally different level than we were. In the double elimination race, my son's car was eliminated in the first two heats. After that race I knew that we would have to do something different for next year.
The following year my son was in the Weblos group, and it would be his last year to race with the Cub Scouts in his new pack. After doing a little searching over the Internet, we designed a car that was sleek looking, and we implemented some of the speed tips I was able to find.
My son, my wife, and I were all amazed and shocked when his car went undefeated that year in his pack, and was able to advance to the District race. We were further amazed when his car went undefeated in the area race and took second in the District for the Weblos that year. After the race we were informed that there was going to be a Council race that year, and the top two in District could go.
At the Council race there were some pretty fast looking cars, and we were not sure just how well his car would do. However we were both surprised, because at the end of the race he had finished second in the Weblos just behind the same car he came in second to at the district race.
The best part was after they had awarded him his trophy (which was a big one), he had to walk back to the car which was located at the opposite end of the fair grounds through the thousands of scouts that were there. I could tell that he was on cloud nine because the whole way across the fair grounds he was stopped by friends and other scouts that wanted to check out his car and his trophy, and he was glad to
share his story with them.