District race a lesson on how not to behave

[Watchitgo]

!!!Warning!!! This is a complete rant...

I have heard stories 0f adults breaking out in fist fights at Scout Pinewood Derby races. Until today I thought that these events were urban legends. Now I can see how these things can happen.

I volunteered to run the race software at the district scout race so I was removed from my family. My son won his district race and what should have been a joyful moment of celebration was nothing of the sort. My son looked as if he had been crying and my wife pulled me aside and said that we needed to talk. My son's car was beating the competition by .06. Apparently there were adults there yelling that he was cheating, never mind the fact that his car passed inspection twice , once at the pack race and then again at district race, and met all of the rules to the letter. When I heard this I was pretty steamed.

How dare you as an adult, with your children present, act in that way. You have no idea how many hours the scout has put in to the car. In my son's case, he spent over 20 hours working on the car. He took great pride in building it. He even glued and shaped his own fenders. Now it is discarded in a drawer.

 

[TRE]

Thats terrible

 

[Racing358t]

We know exactly how you feel. It happened to us on the pack level though. Our pack race was always the late January or Early February timeframe. My son would start on it in November so as to make sure HE had time to do the work himself because we all know kids don't have more than maybe 1/2hr attention span. The first year he stomped them all there was a lot of BS from the adaults especially the "mom's". It isn't my son's fault or my fault they try to throw it together in a couple days. Anyway, it's a good life lesson on many levels. Sorry to hear you had to deal with it also.

Scott

 

[Watchitgo]

We have a similar process. I try to break down the build to small chunks that can be done in 20 minute chunks.

The kids can accomplish a lot when it is broken down in small chunks.

 

[Bw56]

Yup. My son heard all those comments his wolf year. He built an Indy car that was a fast work of art the got thrown in a drawer also.

 

[dan9592]

We have had the same issues for the last 5 years. This year my son was accused of running bearings till I offered the dad that was questioning the car that I would pull axles to prove he was totally legal. Problem is society believes everything should be handed to them and a even playing field. Well the playing field is even if you put the time and energy into researching and reading. My son puts a ton of work in his cars and every year he has to hear he is cheating from other scouts and parents. The way I look at it is easier to make excuses like this so the parents feel better about themselves that they don’t put the time and energy in building a car with their child. It’s way more than winning it teaching the child the physics of the the car and spending time with them. And NO ViDEO games involved.

 

[Ballistic Racing]

Take the car OUT of the drawer & display it proudly, then take him out for an ice cream & celebrate his hard work. Don’t let a jealous parent get you down, tell him to keep his chin up & then go do it again next year!

 

[Bw56]

I did tell my son he could take it as a compliment as they thought an adult built it.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

!!!Warning!!! This is a complete rant...

I have heard stories 0f adults breaking out in fist fights at Scout Pinewood Derby races. Until today I thought that these events were urban legends. Now I can see how these things can happen.

I volunteered to run the race software at the district scout race so I was removed from my family. My son won his district race and what should have been a joyful moment of celebration was nothing of the sort. My son looked as if he had been crying and my wife pulled me aside and said that we needed to talk. My son's car was beating the competition by .06. Apparently there were adults there yelling that he was cheating, never mind the fact that his car passed inspection twice , once at the pack race and then again at district race, and met all of the rules to the letter. When I heard this I was pretty steamed.

How dare you as an adult, with your children present, act in that way. You have no idea how many hours the scout has put in to the car. In my son's case, he spent over 20 hours working on the car. He took great pride in building it. He even glued and shaped his own fenders. Now it is discarded in a drawer.

If you think it might help ....go thru the rules line by line with your son. SHOW him how you followed every rule and did NOT cheat. Explain to him again some of the things that he did extra that most others did not. This may help him understand why his car was as fast as it was. Use this as a learning opportunity. Use it to also teach him that sometimes there are others that don't act appropriately. Tell him how you and he could have handled this situation if the roles had been reversed. Tell him that you would have congratulated the winner and asked them if they could share any ideas on how to make your car faster.

Certainly make sure that he understands that you did follow the rules and that he should be proud of his accomplishments!

 

[Watchitgo]

Thanks Guys. I appreciate the advice.

The next day after everyone had a chance to cool down, my son and I went on a walk. I reminded him of all the extra steps we took to improve the speed of his car. We talked about how he more than likely spent double the amount of time working on his car than his peers. After the walk we reached out to the race officials and explained what happened and asked to have his car reinspected. They quickly responded telling him that it would not be necessary. His car passed inspection at the beginning of the race and as far as they are concerned he won. This helped improve his mood. He even had an idea for next years car. Instead of using monokote he wants to use packing tape which will expose the work he did to the body and a list of all thing things he did to his car. He wants to call it "Nothing To Hide".

 

[Bw56]

"Nothing To Hide" Awesome. Can't wait to see it.