Who is Ready for the Mid America Pinewood Derby 2017 - updated
- Thread starter xanthrum
- Start date
Man this just sounds awesome! I need to hit the lotto so I can just take the whole family there! Will certainly work towards some savings to actually do that in the future.
For those reading this... is it common knowledge that basics (BASX) is the easiest class to build/tune for beginners? I might send a proxy... thought about doing Pro-Street Stock but we all know how that would turn out. Not being negative, just honest. And I have a lot going on this month already. I just thumbed through the classes real quick... is Street Stock just a class in pro division? I see "Adults" class under the "general anyone can race" division but nothing stating specific classes for that. This sure sounds like a great thing you all are putting on here and God bless y'all for your efforts!
Regards,
Jimmy
For those reading this... is it common knowledge that basics (BASX) is the easiest class to build/tune for beginners? I might send a proxy... thought about doing Pro-Street Stock but we all know how that would turn out. Not being negative, just honest. And I have a lot going on this month already. I just thumbed through the classes real quick... is Street Stock just a class in pro division? I see "Adults" class under the "general anyone can race" division but nothing stating specific classes for that. This sure sounds like a great thing you all are putting on here and God bless y'all for your efforts!
Regards,
Jimmy
Yes Scouts can indeed submit one car in the Oil Division and one car in the graphite division.... one per scout per division
Jimmy the Basics class is designed to be just the a place to get your feet wet against Pro Level Racing although it is a Very Large Class many builders race in that division ... my first Pro Car that I ever made was a Street Pro... still one of my favorite classes we have 7 Pro Divisions and my goal when I built my first Pro car was simply not to get last place ... I may not too much ahead of that goal as all Pro Divisions that competition is stepped up... The Adult Open Graphite -- is a Graphite Class vs Oil (run in most the pro divisions) and it is run on Saturday and Pro Racing is run on Friday... you can not go wrong with any direction you go -- they key as in life is "Just Do It" -- the application will help you elevate your skills
Hey thanks for the good word. But for a tad bit more clarification... I see it only narrows down to the specific pro classes for JUST the pro level division, ie Street Stock, Unlimited, BASX.
The Adult Open Graphite... Is that a class that is more open such as fenders? It gives dimensions limits and parts regs but does not mention anything regarding body mods. Are a lot of folks running fenders there too? I kind of take this as a truly open build what you will class as long as it fits the rules regarding parts allowed and body dimensions. That correct?
If your cars are the ones in your avatar you are in great shape.... fenders are allowed -- and the rules for each class are posted and I would encourage you to take a look at all the pictures to give you an idea - or videos of the years past racing... Most people these days are indeed running fenders in the Scout - Kids - Adult Divisions. There are certain Pro Classes where no aerodynamics are allowed (Basics) so pay attention to the rules and remember - it is racing
Whoop! I see "Street Slammers" has been added... (Or is that "Door Rods"?)
Greg, you okay with drop shipping to Joel?
Greg, you okay with drop shipping to Joel?
As a matter of fact that is perfectly a - ok ... in fact I anticipate that many will want cars directly shipped from MAPWD over to the NPWDRL race that is not a problem what so ever.
Thanks for clarifying again Xanthrum. The cars in my avatar are the ones my kids cleaned house with at our churches Awana GP a couple weekends ago. They have all the stuff from the Awana kits on them and I just did the usual speed tricks. Drilled canted rear axle holes at rear of the body, rail runner set up with NDFW lifted off the track, all the weight in rear (as best as I could which is on top) fenders and sanded and polished wheels & axles. The Rainbow Beast ran a best 3.008 on the 42' brand new Best Track set up. Not exactly sure what my son's best time was but Bailey beat him by about exactly 1 car length with his front right on her rear.
If I sent in a car for proxy I actually thought about building another. I didn't really do the best job on their cars when compared to experienced racers. Both have crooked rear axle holes and had to bend 1 rear axle on each in order to compensate. Then my sons car had glue & wrap residue twisted up inside a wheel and even tho I took it off and cleaned it up I still see his wheels don't spin as freely as hers. Both weighed in at exactly 4.97 oz. I suppose I could try to freshen theirs up but truth be told, I am ready to build another using knowledge gained from these 2. Wanted to go a simple route for an easy quick build. A friend has a drill press so I can increase chances of the rear axle holes not being crooked.
We'll see...
A simple BASX style build might happen unless I can't resist doing fenders again.
Tempting...
That is the exact part of what make racing these cars fun - each build each time you learn and develop a system in making improvements you know what you might have been able to have done better improve on it - pretty soon you are at the top ... it doesn't happen in one build -- you should do both one for the kids and one for you.Thanks for clarifying again Xanthrum. The cars in my avatar are the ones my kids cleaned house with at our churches Awana GP a couple weekends ago. They have all the stuff from the Awana kits on them and I just did the usual speed tricks. Drilled canted rear axle holes at rear of the body, rail runner set up with NDFW lifted off the track, all the weight in rear (as best as I could which is on top) fenders and sanded and polished wheels & axles. The Rainbow Beast ran a best 3.008 on the 42' brand new Best Track set up. Not exactly sure what my son's best time was but Bailey beat him by about exactly 1 car length with his front right on her rear.
If I sent in a car for proxy I actually thought about building another. I didn't really do the best job on their cars when compared to experienced racers. Both have crooked rear axle holes and had to bend 1 rear axle on each in order to compensate. Then my sons car had glue & wrap residue twisted up inside a wheel and even tho I took it off and cleaned it up I still see his wheels don't spin as freely as hers. Both weighed in at exactly 4.97 oz. I suppose I could try to freshen theirs up but truth be told, I am ready to build another using knowledge gained from these 2. Wanted to go a simple route for an easy quick build. A friend has a drill press so I can increase chances of the rear axle holes not being crooked.
We'll see...
A simple BASX style build might happen unless I can't resist doing fenders again.
Tempting...
That way you can all have fun watching them on the Live Video Feed.
So if you could give say... an average on the length of time it might take to get all the way through the Open Div Kids and the Open Div Adults... how long do you think it might take to get through those races start to finish?
I am just asking in case we do end up sending a car or 3 how long we will be watching to see start to finals. Can ya tell I am really starting to think about this?
We have activities the next few weekends and kids activities weeknights so build time will be somewhat sparse so doing 1 car vs 3... as much as I would want to have a car for myself and each kid I might just be able to send one.
How many races a year does MAPWD do?
I am just asking in case we do end up sending a car or 3 how long we will be watching to see start to finals. Can ya tell I am really starting to think about this?
We have activities the next few weekends and kids activities weeknights so build time will be somewhat sparse so doing 1 car vs 3... as much as I would want to have a car for myself and each kid I might just be able to send one.
How many races a year does MAPWD do?
All good questions... This is it ... Once a year it is probably the biggest pinewood derby race in the country - we raced somewhere around 750 races last year... it is an annual event - this is year #7 - I would encourage you to check out the website lots of information there. www.midamericaderby.com - but to answer your question it totally depends on the number of entries and - I always figure 1 minute per car 60 cars = 1 hour of racing for that division . We run two Track simultaneously - The Kids are first up - with the Adults to follow on the 4 lane Best Track - there is always a little break in the action before finals ... what is also cool is that if you have a smart phone you can be anywhere anyplace watching the event. ... and not to spill the beans but the R&D that we are in the midst of working on right now... directly relates to this ... it involves being able to see your cars schedule so you know what races it will race in... and it will record your car results as part of the application - so that you will know when to watch to see your car ... and if you miss it you can always play back te Live Feed to see your cars racing and you will know - what races to watch to see your car.
So if you could give say... an average on the length of time it might take to get all the way through the Open Div Kids and the Open Div Adults... how long do you think it might take to get through those races start to finish?
I am just asking in case we do end up sending a car or 3 how long we will be watching to see start to finals. Can ya tell I am really starting to think about this?
We have activities the next few weekends and kids activities weeknights so build time will be somewhat sparse so doing 1 car vs 3... as much as I would want to have a car for myself and each kid I might just be able to send one.
How many races a year does MAPWD do?
The Mid America Derby Crew is made up of the same people that just this Summer Set the "Official Guinness Book of Records in Building and Racing on the Worlds Longest Pinewood Derby Track" - You can google that information it was pretty cool - we try our best to do amazing job in growing the interest in Pinewood Derby around the Country and the key components of what we focus on are:
- To Provide an Unparalleled Scouting Experience for all those that are involved.
- To Provide the highest Level of fair competition for Scouts within council and throughout the United States racing pinewood derby cars.
- To Continue the momentum and grow the event - making Mid America the Nationals for Cub Scouting
Oh that is an awesome app indeed! I do hope you succeed in getting that up & running. I have actually read through almost the entire website since we first started talking about this. lol. I have it up in 3 different tabs on my pc atm comparing info on everything and rule sets.
Congratz on Guiness!!! That is so cool. I will definitely save the pennies in order to be able to actually make the trip down one year. I know how much both my kids enjoyed the Awana Grand Prix but this?! oh man would they love it. What a great weekend you have planned for everyone. Of course my kids would have to forget the notion of total racing dominance that they had at the AGP tho. But I think they would be cool with it.
Congratz on Guiness!!! That is so cool. I will definitely save the pennies in order to be able to actually make the trip down one year. I know how much both my kids enjoyed the Awana Grand Prix but this?! oh man would they love it. What a great weekend you have planned for everyone. Of course my kids would have to forget the notion of total racing dominance that they had at the AGP tho. But I think they would be cool with it.
You might be more dominant than you think - especially If you channel this energy into building.
Not to high jack the thread, I just didn't want to start a new one with only one question. In the Scout open and adult open, can the wheels be lightened inside as long as the markings stay intact? (example - if we machine the inside of the wheel to remove unwanted material. They have all the correct markings, front and rear but are lightened on the inside. )
Thanks for the help. getting ready to send you two cars, just want to make sure we are within the rules.
Thanks for the help. getting ready to send you two cars, just want to make sure we are within the rules.
Not to high jack the thread, I just didn't want to start a new one with only one question. In the Scout open and adult open, can the wheels be lightened inside as long as the markings stay intact? (example - if we machine the inside of the wheel to remove unwanted material. They have all the correct markings, front and rear but are lightened on the inside. )
Thanks for the help. getting ready to send you two cars, just want to make sure we are within the rules.
Yes absolutely - wheels can be lightened both inside and out.. just all the markings have to be intact ... great question
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