Pinewood Derby 2012

Marcus participated in his first Pinewood Derby last Saturday. Him and his Dad worked hard to make his car and although it was stylish, we found out during the weigh in that it wasn't heavy enough so for a last minute solution for the weight problem, they stuck some washers and pennies on top of the car. This is the row of the participant cars and Marcus' was the second to the last on the right side of the photo (blue and grey)

Our Stake has a pretty technologically advanced ramp for the cars to race on. The ramp is connected to a computer where it can detect the speed of the cars by the finish line. Then it quickly shows up on a projector screen to see who was first, second and third in that particular race. Pretty cool!

Here's Marcus' car on the first race. They had blocks off the perimeter surrounding the ramp so I was not able to come too close. I did have my zoom lens but with the speed of the cars, it was hard to find my focus fast and click the shutter.

All the boys were able to do three rounds for each races. All in all there was three races and about 18 kids so there was a lot of time waiting which didn't make Marcus happy. You know him, he likes to move, move, move!

His car didn't fare very well. It was our first attempt and (I'm blaming Mitch on this) we didn't pump Marcus' wheels with graphite to make it go down the tracks faster. We were also studying the configurations of the other cars and next year we are thinking of making a slimmer, sleek car. I noticed that the ones that are less heavy on the top went faster than the ones that do have more bulk on the top of the car.

But over all I think Marcus had fun. He was proud of his car and enjoyed the treats afterwards.

He even got a certificate for having the most "retro" looking car. I think not coming out empty handed made him happy. :)

and here's the Pinewood Derby car making duo. With the lessons learned on this derby, we are excited to make next year's car even better!

Till next time,
Grace