Just a small delay in getting this posted, but I wanted to do it some justice. This past Saturday was the annual Pinewood Derby race for Will’s Cub Scout pack, and Will wanted a more competitive car. So we went with a more traditional car shape and worked together to create something that we hoped would be competitive.
To be honest, it was more competitive than I ever figured.
Will won his race against his Bear den. Well, there are only 2 Cubs in his Bear den, so the competition wasn’t too stiff. (Although the other Cub took second overall last year.) That win got Will pumped.
But it also meant he got to go against the winners in the other 3 dens. His first race was against the winner from the Webelos den, and it was a photo finish. (You can see this race, as well as every other race, in the video below.) The Scouts manning the finish line actually thought Will had won, but the electronic eye said otherwise. (And slowing down the video at home shows that as well.)
But Will won the consolation round race and got into a final run for the top 3. It was close, but he could only pull out a 3rd place finish. (The car he essentially tied earlier won the overall title.) So somehow, Will and his mechanically-ungifted* Dad had constructed a top 3 Pinewood Derby racing car.
Who knew?
*If you need further evidence of my ungiftedness, just consider that the night before the race, I split the wood in 2 separate places, trying to install the wheels, causing one of the pieces to completely break off. And another wheel was first installed to almost rub against the car — it was installed not too straight. Luckily, the kids were asleep and I was in the garage, so the words I chose to use during those 45 minutes were not heard. (And Crazy Glue helped put it back together without the damage being too noticeable.)
I don’t know how we’ll top it next year. There are definitely some lessons learned on putting it together, and we’ll see what style Will wants to go with next year. But it sure doesn’t beat the feeling of winning. Wait a minute — I mean I’m sure Will is really proud of winning. (Yeah, that’s what I meant. Ha ha!)
