Worst Nightmare...

[John Thawley]

Guys, I need some advice.

After making our effort to step up and build cars the right way and with our eye on the Council Championships, I have just received news that our District race will be run:

a.) Outdoors
b.) On a wooden track
c.) On a 32' track
d.) On a weekend I'm traveling and can't be with my son.

As you may or may not know, we have our own 42' BestTrack. Given our car(s) are built with fairly aggressive COM (1/2" in front of rear axle), are thin and run 1 gram wheels, I'm concerned.

I don't think I can do much to change the COM. I've got a little room... but not much.

Also, I was about to embark on prepping new wheels and axles for oil. Knowing we are going to run outdoors... is this a good idea or should we stick with graphite?

My concern about the wheels is wheel damage. I know the wood tracks don't have good stopping mechanisms and cars are usually flying.

My biggest concern is this is the same pack that hosted last year. The changed a rule the night of tech, had a timer that VISIBLY missed a finish, dropped my sons car and for the Championship tie-breaker, told each kid to pick a lane and did a single run to decide the winner.

Any suggestions on setting up the car would be greatly appreciated.

JT

 

[briand]

As Tony Horton would say " Do your best and forget the rest " It's not about winning if it was I wouldn"t send any cars is cause I lose every race, lol.

 

[DNA RACING]

John, if possible i would go with a set of the cheetahs or rage extremes, the are MUCH more robust and less likely to break with a bad stop section. i hate outside races, a stray gust of wind can send a car flying. not to mention dust and other things. i would still go with the oil though. the com is kinda tough to play with after the fact, but with a wooden track that sounds as bad as this one, i would try to get more up front as a chip or ridge will send it up in the front.

 

[Kinser Racing]

Have your boy take a nice fluffy towel to the race and place it on the stop section. I had my nephew do this at his race on a track we'd never seen. If you have a large enough bend angle on your DFW you should be ok on the wood track.

 

[speed bump]

I put a piece of sand paper on the bottom on the car to stop it.It worked great! Check rules first.I also put a heavy wheel on the front for more abuse and not crack it.A little more steer because it might be a little more rough than you are use to.

 

[DNA RACING]

the only problem with adding more angle to the dfw is alot of the wooden tracks have what can only be described as a short center guide. that last race Lief had was on such a track, i had to take out most of the steer or the 1/8" center rail would have been jumped right away.

the sandpaper trick is a good one, pick up a pack of self stick orb sander paper and cut a stripto fit the bottom rear of the car. i find that 120 grit works well.

 

[John Thawley]

Well, our worst fears were realized. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend, but my son's car wiggled and bounced it's way into 4th place and did not get invited to the Council Championships.

Someone sent me photos of the track... it was ridiculous. The sections were soup bowls from joint-to-joint and the joins were peaked. It was outdoors and had to be swept using a cement broom... AND, the timer was in bright sunlight.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=434212849931951&set=p.434212849931951&type=1&theater

The boys were given their finishing positions during the heat races (my son had two first and two seconds) but were not given their times... and of course, final positions were handed out by time.

I had inquired about the group hosting the Districts well in advance and complained about their race management last year. (dropped cars, poor track, poor rules enforcement etc.) Furthermore, I offered to lend them our aluminum track.

Needless to say, he's very disappointed. He was second in last year's council race and his car this year is easily .050 faster. But he'll never know if he did his best.

I'm extremely disappointed our Council leaders. Every week these boys make a pledge to "do their best," and yet leaders and organizers don't practice what they preach. I don't care if you're a volunteer or not... don't volunteer if you're not going to "do YOUR best."

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

John this is the exact reason this circuit is here for everyone. The events are fair. The tracks are great and you truly get to see how you stack up against the VERY best. Clean the car up and get it here!

 

[oskiwow]

John,

I hear you.

This past year's Pinewood Derby race for our Pack was similar in terms of event handling. Our original track was set up the night before and as the evening wore on we learned that on the 4-lane track, only 3 of timers were "somewhat" working. I ended up calling a friend of mine some 30 miles north of us to borrow their 2-lane wooden Piantedosi track which he graciously brought the morning of the race.

We raced without difficulty. We were also supposed to fund-raise with a "Dad's Brag Race" for the purposes of upgrading the Pack's old track -- the funds that we raised though only offset the additional expenses incurred by the race organizers (extra ribbons we never used, certificates we never handed out, etc.). If I hadn't had a contact with a track to lend, the event most likely would not have happened.

That incident though has driven me to volunteer in a number of ways. We personally acquired our own aluminum 2-lane Freedom track, and even now we're going through to write up the procedure for track setup, race management, etc. -- to your point, ensuring that we "give our best" in organizing and setting up the race for our scouts and pack.

I don't know if you're in a position to "take over" your race management there, but think about it. It's a shame to have hard work put into car building marred by unusual track conditions.

(My son and I just got our track over the weekend, and we set it up outside for testing. Found out that a ladybug on the track can send a car flying...)