Derby Days

We had a Pinewood Derby last Saturday and can I get a Whoop! Whoop! for Tanner.

The whole Derby scenario has been a bit hilarious to Zac and I.  Tanner did okay last year placing somewhere in the middle of the pack, but he was hungry for a win.  This year, he decided that if he made a boat like design, aerodynamics would be in his favor and he felt he could win.  Tanner and Zac took the car out of the package and carved one end into a V shape.  Other than sanding and painting not much more work took place on the car.  And they finished it quite early and the car was shelved for a few weeks.

In fact, that car sat around so long that Bronson and Charlotte kept getting it and breaking it.  On the way to the race, we prepped Tanner for failure thinking that Charlotte and Bronson had probably destroyed any chances of his car doing well.

BUT.......

His car did do well!!!  In this picture his car has an impressive lead over the others.

Much to his surprise.

His car had to compete in 8 heats.  He won every one by a landslide.  Don't you just love his face!

Ian watched in total envy.  Ian will be 8 in May and some of his friends have already turned 8 and were able to compete.

That's not to say that Dad didn't buy Ian his own Pinewood Derby kit and helped him build one.  But he couldn't race it with the other boys.

He was however, able to run it through the loop-de-loops after the race. 

As Tanner will turn 11 in July, this was his last Pinewood Derby. Sadly, through our moving around for the past couple of years, he missed his first two Derbys.

Tanner beat out 17 other scouts to get first place with an average race speed of about 184.3 mph.  We are told he can now advance to Districts.  What a way to end a Derby career and it couldn't have happened to a more humble scout.

Next year Ian can compete, and I have a feeling I know what kind of car he will want to make.