Pinewood Derby 2007

A quick recap and pictures from the race. Alex and I both built cars this year, as they had a parent only division. Notice the Jeff Gordon DuPont hat...

The outcome:

A few quick facts: the fastest car came in at 2.5489 sec, followed by 2.5503, 2.5579 and 2.5783. The slowest car was around a 3.25 secs. Last year, 1/2 of the cars were slower than 3 seconds (same racetrack); this year, only 3-4 cars were slower than 3 seconds---a huge improvement, which made the competition very intense.
Alex's car: 18th out of 46 cars; final time (4 race average): 2.6509 seconds. There was a problem the first race (not quite sure what; I don't think it was put on the track well) and his car ran a 2.77s time; if we factor that out, his 3 race average was 2.611 seconds, which would have put him in the top 10 cars. Our goal was to be in the top 1/2 this year, an improvement over last year. Final car weight: 4.9 oz (5 oz max) Unfortunately, three other kids in our den were in the top 10 (only den where that happened), so we finished 4th and didn't earn a ribbon. However, after losing the first race, Alex's car destroyed the competition in the next 3 (including a victory over his best friend in the 4th race), so he was able to enjoy the thrill of victory a few times (and it is a great sight to see him jumping out of his chair and pumping his fist!)
We spent a significant amount of time on his car playing around with the wheels, which was probably our downfall--the axles got loose and it was difficult to keep them in the optimum position. I also bought a test track, so we spent part of Fri. night having practice runs down the hallway to make sure the car went straight. All told, a lot went into the car. We finished his car around 10:30pm on Fri., at which point I got started on mine. I cut mine out, sanded it quickly, and applied two coats of paint before retiring to bed at 2am. I was up at 6:30, put the finishing touches on (paint and decals) then put the wheels on. A few test runs down the track, and we were out the door.
Craig's car: 2nd out of 11 cars (parent's division); final time (4 race average): 2.5927 seconds, which put it as the 5th fastest car of the day and earned a ribbon for place.
Go figure.


The pre-race Press Release:

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Press Release: For Immediate Distribution
The Mark and Westphal Racing Teams are pleased to announce that they will be competing in the 2007 Annual Pinewood Derby, held this Saturday at New Garden Elementary School (Landenberg, PA). The Mark Racing Team will be making its second appearance, and will feature its "Green Lightning" car #64 this year. This wedge-shaped based car design boasts an unique fin design added behind the seat to improve the aerodynamics and handling, particularly down the course straightaway. The car, laser green in color with a metallic golden front end design, will also feature a cylindrical-shaped weighting system along its rear fin, to come in at a total weight just under the allowed 5 ozs (weighed in accordance to Good Laboratory Practice guidelines on scientific balances accurate to 0.01 mg, thanks to a joint partnership with DuPont and Jeff Gordon). A precisely balanced wheel and axel system will utilize an unique Teflon(R), graphite, and baby drool lubrication system to minimize friction and provide the maximum velocity allowed by the laws of physics.
The Westphal Racing Team will be making its inaugural entry in the adult-only competition. The Westphal Racing Team car will feature more of a "free-form" design (ie. whatever I think of in the next 16 hrs) and hopefully have four wheels.
Winning prizes in both divisions include 2 tickets to the Busch Racing Series in Dover in 2007, and bragging rights amongst the other scout members and parents.