District Champions - Thanks!!!!!!!!

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Our Districts were last Saturday and I am still in disbelief.

First a bit of background. Rules stated that we could not lighten the wheels (2.5 gram) , must use BSA axles, and must use graphite or other dry lubricant.

The track was a Best Track (42') that was in need of a bunch of work. I would rate it a 6 out of 10 and that might be a bit kind. I helped to set it up and made sure it was set at 27 degrees and level. Two of us then went thru nearly a full spray bottle of Simple Green and a full roll of paper towels trying to clean off the dirt and graphite. We managed to get maybe about half of it off in the hour+ that we spent cleaning.

The track was 8 lanes, but only 6 of them were used because of bad joint issues.

Well, things went better than I ever possibly could have imagined! We built a number of cars to try different wheelbases, wheel weighting, lead and tungsten, different aero considerations and different alignment settings.

We did this as a family event. Mom, Colten and I each raced two cars. Colten raced the car we built together (Motivation) in the scout races and one that he did most of the work himself (Flash). Flash is a wedge shaped lead weighted car. As it turned out, based on the data we have, even Flash could have won the scout races. This car was built by a 10 year old doing 90%+ of the build.

The best part of all of this is that when we got home Colten went over to our pile of pinewood Derby kits and brought me a box and asked if we could start on another car today!

Mom's car (Pink Passion) won the open division by a very slim margin over second place (Wildfire) another one of our entries.

Anyway, I could go on about a lot more details, but we finished as the top five cars in the open and won the scout championship with our six cars. I am STILL having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I expected to do ok ...maybe a 2nd and a 4th, but nothing like this.

We need to say a huge thanks to all here that helped to answer questions. Colten specifically asked me to pass along his thanks to all of you. So, THANKS again to all of you and a special thanks to DD4H for being patient with all of our questions!

 

[TWarwick07]

Way to go guys glad you had a good time.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

I thought I should also add a few build pictures. This was a learning process for all of us and at each step of the way, we had to problem solve different items. I believe that because we were forced to problem solve, that we ended up with a better understanding of what was happining. Again, thanks goes out to those that answered questions along the way!

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

And just a few more ....

 

[jatofau1]

Congratulations to you guys. The cars look great. Your son did an awesome job. I also like that you included the whole family in the event. It looks like your wife enjoyed the experince as well.

 

[Skywalker Racing]

Nice job; congrats to you all! So nice to see a family working together on something and be rewarded.

 

[gdurban]

LOVE IT!! Thanks for all the pics. It is great to see and reminds me of all the time with my sons during our builds this year. GREAT FUN!!

 

[CH3NO2]

Awesome, great job!!

 

[speed bump]

Great job!! Family fun at its best.

 

[Ballistic Racing]

Great job! It looks as though ALL the thinkin & ALL the questions payed off! Lol! Congrats on a productive weekend. Now let's see you guys take the next step & send in a few cars!

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Thanks for all of the well wishes! It has really been a roller coaster ride of emotion.

Thanks to all of you that noticed that we really did try to make this a family event. Both mom and Colten have told me that they would like to build cars next year for the open race.

Thanks again & again to all of those that so freely shared answers and information!!!

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Great job! It looks as though ALL the thinkin & ALL the questions payed off! Lol! Congrats on a productive weekend. Now let's see you guys take the next step & send in a few cars!

Ballistic,

You made me laugh at myself again. Sometimes I can get so focused on a task/problem that I need someone to remind me to step back and enjoy the process. Your humor has helped me do this. Thanks!

Colten is ready to send in some cars, but with heavy wheels and stock axles, I really don't know if it would be worthwhile? Maybe at some point in the future, we can learn the oil process and give it a try. We really wanted to try the Mid-America this weekend, but the logistics of trying to go along with the fact that he has a spring camp out put it on hold for this year.

Thanks again!

 

[Ballistic Racing]

Heavy wheels & stock axles... we just happen to have a class that supports these evil box parts... Box Stock!!! Even though you're running graphite, you might be surprised how close they run together having to share the same disability. Next race is May 6th, send & let your kids watch their cars on the live feed. After that, work on your oil process & try to beat your previous times. Best thing is, we'll all be here to help with ALL your oil questions!

 

[derbydentist]

Nice buddy looks like you guys killed it! I'm loving the paint jobs and that awesome paint holder I see in the pics! You guys using enamel paint?

 

[speed bump]

Heavy wheels & stock axles... we just happen to have a class that supports these evil box parts... Box Stock!!! Even though you're running graphite, you might be surprised how close they run together having to share the same disability. Next race is May 6th, send & let your kids watch their cars on the live feed. After that, work on your oil process & try to beat your previous times. Best thing is, we'll all be here to help with ALL your oil questions!

Like ballistic said " send it in and let him watch on the computer ". He will enjoy it believe me. I have one scout and dad now that can't wait until every race.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Nice buddy looks like you guys killed it! I'm loving the paint jobs and that awesome paint holder I see in the pics! You guys using enamel paint?

Thanks, on the paint ...yes we are just using spray can enamel. It takes a long time to dry! The quality is "ok", but I may venture out and try something different on the next builds. We can't try too many things each time as I want to keep track of if we make progress. We also are considering a ladder body ?

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Speed Bump & Ballistic,

Correct me if I am wrong, but I just started looking at the BASX and Box Stock rules. It appears to me that in Box Stock, that you can't prep the inner edge, inner hub, or the outer hub ...right?

So we would either need to send some of the open wheeled cars to the BASX am races (with the small diameter axles and 2.5g wheels) or we would need to prep new wheels and/or axles for either class.

While I have limited expectations, I really don't want to finish at the bottom of the pack. However, if that is where we finished ...the only way to go is up!

Time will tell. The track is down and the boat is in the garage. We are getting ready for summer activities. I do beta testing for a couple of marine product companies. Once the boat is at the lake ...garage space is opened back up.

Thanks again to all that answered questions!

P.S. Don't count on being done with answering questions!

 

[speed bump]

Speed Bump & Ballistic,

Correct me if I am wrong, but I just started looking at the BASX and Box Stock rules. It appears to me that in Box Stock, that you can't prep the inner edge, inner hub, or the outer hub ...right?

So we would either need to send some of the open wheeled cars to the BASX am races (with the small diameter axles and 2.5g wheels) or we would need to prep new wheels and/or axles for either class.

While I have limited expectations, I really don't want to finish at the bottom of the pack. However, if that is where we finished ...the only way to go is up!

Time will tell. The track is down and the boat is in the garage. We are getting ready for summer activities. I do beta testing for a couple of marine product companies. Once the boat is at the lake ...garage space is opened back up.

Thanks again to all that answered questions!

P.S. Don't count on being done with answering questions!

OH boats are number two on my list. First would b airplanes! Love my boats.

Don't worry about being last place I have been known to be in that elite group. Its still all fun and games. I like the challenge of each race to see if I am faster than the last time I raced. It is a up and down event with me. I have never ran in box stock so I can not help you with that. I picked basx and have stuck with it so I want get to much other stuff to mess with me. I am just like you a scout dad that took the plunge and jumped right into it and have been loving it every since. Ballistic is a great guy to help you out and I might even b listening too. LOL If I can help in way I will but like I said I am still learning this too. Like I have been told there is no dumb questions, it's just dumb for not asking it.

 

[Jimmy & his 2 Kids]

TAR... that... is ... AWESOME! Good for you man getting all the fam involved. I'm jealous! I can get the kids at it but the wife... um... nah. lol
Great job getting the family together and making awesome memories dad! Be sure to post if you make the jump to NPWDRL! I'll be watching!

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

TAR... that... is ... AWESOME! Good for you man getting all the fam involved. I'm jealous! I can get the kids at it but the wife... um... nah. lol
Great job getting the family together and making awesome memories dad! Be sure to post if you make the jump to NPWDRL! I'll be watching!

Thanks for the kind words! We try to do a lot of things as a family. The wife is a true keeper! When I was drag racing and autocross racing, she would come to the garage and help with everything from engine assembly to suspension set-up.

I am not sure if she did that because, that was the only way she felt she could spend time with me, or if it was the fact that I explained everything to her from cam timing to unsprung weight. I really made an attempt at teaching her the why of how things worked. Not only is she a great wife, she is the worlds best mom also!