The Spark

While somewhat OT for this forum it still involves racing.

My grandsons (with a little help from grandpa) raced in their cub scout pack's pinewood derby last night. So I'm doing a little bragging.

These were my first attempt at building PW derby cars. When I was their age my dad had a friend of his build my car. I got to put the numbers on it.

I was just hoping for a good showing. We ended up in the finals with a head to head match between Mark (8) and John (10). brother against brother.

John's first place White Lightning


Mark's second place Money Machine


I tried to keep their cars as similar as possible. John beat Mark by 1/2 second. I guess that extra 0.02 ounces made a difference.

John told one of his friends "my grandfather is a professional Corvette racer so he knows all about this stuff...." (yeah I wish I was a professional Corvette racer....he hasn't seen me on the track)

Olitho

Congrats to you both on the win.

Your avatar startled me though. I come to this forum for a sense of community and relaxation. The rest of my morning won't be the same now....

0Randy@DRM

Congrats DRM will be at the MN pine wood derby event on April 10th. The local troop asked me if we could bring a few cars up there and show them off to the kids. I said yes last fall, didn't know it was going to be a 8 hour day

Here is the local troop at our shop to learn jump starting a car without blowing up a battery and changing a tire. Great program and we will support their cause anytime.


Congrats on your win!!!
Randy
PS change your avatar, it makes me sick to know that we can't afford healthcare for the summer kid taking out the trash, cleaning bathrooms and etc. No more part time kids around here to see if they want to learn the trade.

The Spark

I got this email this morning

A Thought to Brighten Your Day!

When you are down in the dumps and think you have real problems, just remember:

SOMEWHERE IN THIS WORLD, THERE IS A POOR OLD GUY NAMED MR. PELOSI.....

Kubs

Congrats on the wins!! Those cars kinda resemble a Corvette, thats why they won!

The Spark

Good job Randy. It is great to help the kids out. Too many don't have good male influences in their lives....well at least your a male influence Randy....not too sure about the "good". just kidding.

I worked with the 16-18 year old boys at our church for a few years. I tried to teach them how to do some basic car maintenance and trouble shooting. I was surprised quite a few of them knew how to look up the fuses in the owners manual. They were somewhat clueless in changing a tire though.

I made both of my kids - especially my daughter - learn to change a flat before they were allowed to drive on their own.

Lancer033

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and Congrats...i've still got my pinewood derby cars. Good times

SIK02SS

Nice job!

Randy that's pretty awesome of you to do! Eagle Scout here. While I grew up at the track with my dad, would have been sweet to somehow incorporate that with BSA in some way

I've actually been working a project surrounding this idea for some time now. Hopefully I can pull it all together soon

vettehardt

I am an Eagle Scout also. I am also a former winner of my cub scout packs Pinwood Derby.

I have often thought of doing something with a local scout toop that my brother got his Eagle Rank from, but working 2nd shift doesn't allow me to make their meetings. If and whenever I get to move to 1st shift, that will be one of the first things i do is get involved again. There is an Auto Repair merit badge that boy scouts can earn. I will at least try to be a counselor for that.

Another thing is to have some sort of driving school for the scouts with their permits or liscenses. The racing I have done has made me a 150%+ better driver on the street. I can't count the number of accidents I have avoided because I knew how to handle my car. Maybee i will incorportae that into one of Tire rack's street survival courses.

SIK02SS

Nice

redtopz

I helped my youngest son build one a couple years ago and we named it "Corvette". It was basically built the day before the race and I didn't know all the little tricks to make these things faster but it took 2nd place. I think it was the paint job .

blkz

I remember the times . It's been years but what a great time . My brother and I did the same and we had a blast . Congrats .