Race Time

We participated in the CubScouts pine wood derby race. They give you a chunk of wood, four plastic wheels, and four small nails. You make your chunk go down a hill faster than the other guys.

The first step was to cut out a shape. I took care of this step. Looking back I think Randy could have done better than I did. The platform for the scroll saw was not level, so after cutting it, I had to spend an hour sanding it.

Next was to weigh the car down. What I did w. *@)($*@&!$@LK@*!(#

(This section has been censored to protect trade secrets)

By this time I had the chunk of wood weighed to approximately five oz. and had it sanded into a car shape.

I let Randy paint is however he liked. Then we put it away for a week. The day came to race the cars and I pulled the box from on top of the refrigerator.

THE WHEELS! I had ten minutes to stick the wheels onto our car. What a huge thing to forget. After jamming the wheels on and arriving at the race location, we had to sign in.

They weighed our car at about three ounces. Two ounces too light. I should have used a scale back home. I walked over to a corner with some duct tape and a pocket full of quarters. Fifteen minutes later I was back in with a car that weighed 4.9 ounces.

As we watched the boys race, you could tell they didn't really care if they won or lost. They were all having a blast. Another look around the room showed that the dad's didn't want to lose. Arms folded across the chest, each dad would stare at the track with complete concentration. If you didn't build it fast, staring at the track won't help.

Randy won his first round, thanks to me staring at the track in full concentration. We didn't make it past round three. All the boys went home with a trophy. Wait until next year! I will build the fastest block of wood you have ever seen. . . I mean. . . WE will build the fastest car.