Two weeks ago, Ted and Matthew attended Pack 242's Pinewood Derby workshop. According to Ted, it was very good. Stations were set up so that in the end you come up with your basic car shape and wheel placements. All the sanding, painting and fine tuning were done at home. The Pack has its own Derby rules and regulations which span 4 type written pages with diagrams included. The rules do not allow many of the speed tricks that were used in our previous Pack up in NY. At least Ted was happy that he didn't have to spend 20 hours shaving and sanding the wheels.
This past Friday, the cars were registered and kept overnight at the school. Each scout or family member who entered a car had to pay a $5 registration fee. Scouts were given a meal ticket for either 2 donuts and a drink in the morning or a slice of pizza and a drink for lunch. Yesterday was race day, a very, very long race day (at least it was for us or for those families who had multiple scouts racing). It was a day where I truly missed the efficiency of Pack 6's Pinewood Derbies. Every Pack is different and the way this Pinewood Derby was run, well, I have one acronym for it: FUBAR.
Scouts raced according to rank. So, Tigers had to be there by 8:30 a.m. to do the Opening Ceremony. No other ranks were present unless they happened to be an older sibling of one of the Tigers. Before the races began for each perspective rank, the boys were called up to vote for Best Design in their rank. They got 1 vote for themselves and had to pick another car. After that was done, the racing began. Last year, our Pack got a brand new metal race track with 4 lanes and electric eyes in each lane to register finishes. The scouts were responsible for placing their own car on the race track for each heat as well as holding onto it when they were not racing. This is new for this year. I heard there was an incident last year when one of the parents dropped a car while placing it on the track. I think it was a very bad idea for the scouts to hold onto their cars and place it on the track. Each scout raced their car 8 times or twice in each lane. Points were awarded according to placement for each heat. For example in a heat, 1st place = 4 points, 2nd place = 3 points, 3rd place = 2 points and 4th place = 1 point. Keep in mind, the heats are all computer generated. After all the heats were done for a particular rank, they then take the top 7 cars and race them in the "Rank Finale". So each car in the "Rank Finale" is raced again for a minimum of 8 times (twice in each lane). Once the heats are over for the "Rank Finale" the points are added up to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for that rank. The following awards are given: all scouts receive a certificate and patch, 1st and 2nd place trophies are given for Best Design (scout vote) for each rank, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for speed for each rank.
Am I confusing you yet? Those lucky kids who placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd got to come back later that day and race in the "Pack Grand Finale". The "Pack Grand Finale" consisted of all the top 3 speed racers in each rank...making it a total of 15 scouts. The scouts go through the whole system again, where each car is raced for a minimum of 8 times. After that is done, the top 7 is determined and they race again (8 times each) to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for Pack Overall Speed.
Matthew did very well. He received a 2nd place trophy for Best Design (Tiger rank) and a 1st place Speed Award (Tiger rank). He was a very tired boy by the end of the day. We did not stay the whole time. After the Tigers raced, I went back home and actually got a load of laundry done. Ted got called into work and I took Matt back to the Pinewood Derby around 1:30ish since he was racing in the "Pack Grand Finale". By then, they were behind schedule. Matthew's car made it to the top 7 for Pack Overall Speed. Needless, to say, we did not get out of there until 3:30 p.m. yesterday.
If you haven't figured it out already....Matthew raced his car in at least 32 heats, yes 32 heats....that is just ridiculous!!!! And, we have to do it all over again because the top 2 cars for speed in each rank will race in the James River District Pinewood Derby in March, which our Pack happens to be hosting. I asked if it was going to be as long as this and someone said, "Hell no, it'll go a lot quicker...there are like 10 other Packs participating." I'm hoping that this stands true.
We are glad that he had fun and that his car, "Pizza Delivery" did very well. We are proud that he displayed good sportsmanship. He never gloated or bragged. The Cubmaster is awesome and he continually stressed during the day how important it is to not gloat or brag or display poor sportsmanship. In the end, the boys had fun and that is what matters most.
Matthew was a very, very tired but happy kid. The only thing he asked for was if we could take him and his siblings to Dairy Queen after dinner. He got his wish.
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