Ordeal at Council Pinewood Derby
We placed 1st and 2nd overall at our district race, and our cars were impounded to be raced at the Council race.
Wow, what a race. And that's not the good kind of wow either....
So, to begin with, we were told at the district derby that the Council race was scheduled for 2pm, but I can tell you that I had read the Council newsletter, and the district running the event was planning to run their district race on the same day in advance. Reading their notes I could see that their final race for the day wouldn't even start till 2:30pm, and that they had the Council race scheduled for 4pm.
So I had a feeling when I arrived at 1:40pm that there would be a long wait before we raced, and I was right. We hit the road and got some lunch for the five of us, and planned to return about 2:30pm. No big deal....
We get back and one of the other dads from our districts warns me that the volunteers running the race wouldn't let them re-graphite their cars in advance of the race. Apparently a group of parents got upset and started fighting with the volunteer officials and got that decision overturned. This all happened before we returned.
My boys and I got our cars out from impound, and the wheels all had a serious "post office tune" the wheels had all kind of gap issues and none of my front bent axles were how I left them after districts. No matter, I cleaned the treads, reset the gaps and front alignment, made sure I still had 4 on the floor and we turned the cars back in.
Now a bad feeling creeps into my head. I was recently asked, do I trust these officials with my boys impounded car. I did, right up until that moment. Those cars were perfect when they left districts, and I packed them up pretty good to send them here. Did someone open my boxes and tamper with my cars, or inspect them without my knowledge? Doubts swirl in my head....
Race time, now I have never seen this done before, but they handed the 19 boys in the race their cars, and they each found a chair near the track and just held their car until they were called to race. I didn't know I needed to teach my boys how to sit still and hold their cars for 40 minutes during a race, but that's how they did it.
But then it was time to do the pledge and scout law and such and wouldn't you know it my boy who is a Bear manages to drop his car on the ground. It makes a loud crack noise when it hits. My wife tells me it wasn't his car but I saw him reach down and pick it up. He confesses after the race it was him, he bumped the car when he brought his hand down.
Lecture time by the officials. I thought this was a race? We are told that the district inspections let a lot of illegal cars are in the race, that the guy who is taking over running the Council races and overseeing the districts will be making major changes to weed out the "cheaters"... That last year's winning car shouldn't have been legal, and that some of this year's cars don't meet his standard of a legal car.... He's not looking at me, but I'm sure he's talking about my cars.
Lecture over, the race begins... My boys do well, it's a small 4 lane wood track, and they are finishing most races in first place. I see they have a pillow at the end of the stop section. Nice.
Halfway into the 40 heat race my Tiger son brings me his broken car, the wheel and axle fell out, and I can see the right rear axle slot is cracked wide open, but the silver tape under the car kept the splinters from getting lost. Superglue to the rescue!
I blow off the axle, the wheel and re-mate the set. I get the crack fixed and glued, and add a dab of glue to the tip of the axle nail. When I test the wheel I hear a ticking noise, nothing I can do about that. Elapsed repair time, less than one minute, i was sure the race was over for him....
It wasn't, his times didn't fall off, he was still winning his heats and I didn't see a big difference in his times either. Bullet dodged!
I talk to my Tiger about the broken wheel, the car fell out of the stop section after hitting the pillow and broke when it hit the floor. Awesome track guys!
The rest of the race is run, now it's time for results, I know there was at least one faster car than either of ours.
They start revealing cars 19th through 4th place, we aren't in the list, so I know both boys made it to the podium and will take home trophies.
It's at this point my wife takes our little one to the bathroom, great timing right? But when nature calls a 3 year old you don't argue. I'm glad my wife missed the next part.
Lecture time again. We are told the officials running the race are volunteers and should be applauded for their hard work. Then the guy running the race wants to inspect the winning cars after they are announced.
Results: My Bear finishes 3rd, and my Tiger is second.
The boys turn their cars back in, it's over, time to celebrate. Right? Wrong. Time to continue lecture and use my boy's cars as examples.... In front of 17 other boys and their families. My boys stood there with their new trophies and were lectured on how this was illegal, and that was not fair. Apparently we have unwritten rules about canted wheels and bent axles.
I say nothing, I'm surrounded by people who support this guy, this is his home turf. If I open my mouth, they'll all still think I'm a cheater and a jerk too...
I have a copy of the rules issued to me last December when we got our wood block. Our district requires axles be in slots, and 4 wheels touching, that's it. Nothing about canting or bending axles. In fact, at the district race the guy running the race was issuing bent axles to moms and dads who couldn't get 4 on the floor with their cars.
The race official looks at the winning car and declares that it's fully legal to the cheers of the crowd, but I'm skeptical, because I know my cars, and I know they haven't inspected for 4 wheels touching since the district race, and neither was that car.
When my wife returns and I tell her what she missed, she is livid. I mean like New Jersey livid. I'm so glad she didn't witness this in person, I'm imaging screaming, cars flying, a brawl....
So now my older boy is asking me if we cheated. He doesn't fully understand what happened, or why no-one clapped when he got his trophy.
My younger boy is just happy to have his trophy. Oh to be young and innocent again....
And my wife, let's just say it's going to take a while.....
Go ahead, rewrite the rules, Mr Official. I'll be back next year, and my boys will build faster cars again, "legal ones" if you will, and take home more of your trophies.
Time to hang a new shelf for the boys....
We placed 1st and 2nd overall at our district race, and our cars were impounded to be raced at the Council race.
Wow, what a race. And that's not the good kind of wow either....
So, to begin with, we were told at the district derby that the Council race was scheduled for 2pm, but I can tell you that I had read the Council newsletter, and the district running the event was planning to run their district race on the same day in advance. Reading their notes I could see that their final race for the day wouldn't even start till 2:30pm, and that they had the Council race scheduled for 4pm.
So I had a feeling when I arrived at 1:40pm that there would be a long wait before we raced, and I was right. We hit the road and got some lunch for the five of us, and planned to return about 2:30pm. No big deal....
We get back and one of the other dads from our districts warns me that the volunteers running the race wouldn't let them re-graphite their cars in advance of the race. Apparently a group of parents got upset and started fighting with the volunteer officials and got that decision overturned. This all happened before we returned.
My boys and I got our cars out from impound, and the wheels all had a serious "post office tune" the wheels had all kind of gap issues and none of my front bent axles were how I left them after districts. No matter, I cleaned the treads, reset the gaps and front alignment, made sure I still had 4 on the floor and we turned the cars back in.
Now a bad feeling creeps into my head. I was recently asked, do I trust these officials with my boys impounded car. I did, right up until that moment. Those cars were perfect when they left districts, and I packed them up pretty good to send them here. Did someone open my boxes and tamper with my cars, or inspect them without my knowledge? Doubts swirl in my head....
Race time, now I have never seen this done before, but they handed the 19 boys in the race their cars, and they each found a chair near the track and just held their car until they were called to race. I didn't know I needed to teach my boys how to sit still and hold their cars for 40 minutes during a race, but that's how they did it.
But then it was time to do the pledge and scout law and such and wouldn't you know it my boy who is a Bear manages to drop his car on the ground. It makes a loud crack noise when it hits. My wife tells me it wasn't his car but I saw him reach down and pick it up. He confesses after the race it was him, he bumped the car when he brought his hand down.
Lecture time by the officials. I thought this was a race? We are told that the district inspections let a lot of illegal cars are in the race, that the guy who is taking over running the Council races and overseeing the districts will be making major changes to weed out the "cheaters"... That last year's winning car shouldn't have been legal, and that some of this year's cars don't meet his standard of a legal car.... He's not looking at me, but I'm sure he's talking about my cars.
Lecture over, the race begins... My boys do well, it's a small 4 lane wood track, and they are finishing most races in first place. I see they have a pillow at the end of the stop section. Nice.
Halfway into the 40 heat race my Tiger son brings me his broken car, the wheel and axle fell out, and I can see the right rear axle slot is cracked wide open, but the silver tape under the car kept the splinters from getting lost. Superglue to the rescue!
I blow off the axle, the wheel and re-mate the set. I get the crack fixed and glued, and add a dab of glue to the tip of the axle nail. When I test the wheel I hear a ticking noise, nothing I can do about that. Elapsed repair time, less than one minute, i was sure the race was over for him....
It wasn't, his times didn't fall off, he was still winning his heats and I didn't see a big difference in his times either. Bullet dodged!
I talk to my Tiger about the broken wheel, the car fell out of the stop section after hitting the pillow and broke when it hit the floor. Awesome track guys!
The rest of the race is run, now it's time for results, I know there was at least one faster car than either of ours.
They start revealing cars 19th through 4th place, we aren't in the list, so I know both boys made it to the podium and will take home trophies.
It's at this point my wife takes our little one to the bathroom, great timing right? But when nature calls a 3 year old you don't argue. I'm glad my wife missed the next part.
Lecture time again. We are told the officials running the race are volunteers and should be applauded for their hard work. Then the guy running the race wants to inspect the winning cars after they are announced.
Results: My Bear finishes 3rd, and my Tiger is second.
The boys turn their cars back in, it's over, time to celebrate. Right? Wrong. Time to continue lecture and use my boy's cars as examples.... In front of 17 other boys and their families. My boys stood there with their new trophies and were lectured on how this was illegal, and that was not fair. Apparently we have unwritten rules about canted wheels and bent axles.
I say nothing, I'm surrounded by people who support this guy, this is his home turf. If I open my mouth, they'll all still think I'm a cheater and a jerk too...
I have a copy of the rules issued to me last December when we got our wood block. Our district requires axles be in slots, and 4 wheels touching, that's it. Nothing about canting or bending axles. In fact, at the district race the guy running the race was issuing bent axles to moms and dads who couldn't get 4 on the floor with their cars.
The race official looks at the winning car and declares that it's fully legal to the cheers of the crowd, but I'm skeptical, because I know my cars, and I know they haven't inspected for 4 wheels touching since the district race, and neither was that car.
When my wife returns and I tell her what she missed, she is livid. I mean like New Jersey livid. I'm so glad she didn't witness this in person, I'm imaging screaming, cars flying, a brawl....
So now my older boy is asking me if we cheated. He doesn't fully understand what happened, or why no-one clapped when he got his trophy.
My younger boy is just happy to have his trophy. Oh to be young and innocent again....
And my wife, let's just say it's going to take a while.....
Go ahead, rewrite the rules, Mr Official. I'll be back next year, and my boys will build faster cars again, "legal ones" if you will, and take home more of your trophies.
Time to hang a new shelf for the boys....
