The Pinewood Derby

The pinewood derby......what do I say about that? It comes upon us every year and while Todd is not one of the "crazy, competitive" dads out there, there's still this underlining "hope" that our children do well.....

And while every year, we go home, proud of our children for "doing their best," pat them on their backs and say, "good job, sons," we've never come home with a trophy. We feel good, yes, but the kids know, darnit, that someone else won the coveted prize.

I've never been one for competition. I'm not really a competitive person. We're all winners. We should all be proud of the efforts we've made. And even though our children's cars don't go as fast down the track as other kids' cars.....well, it's okay. Life goes on and we're happy.

This is the mentality of the pinewood derby for me. And a couple of weeks ago, it was with this same feeling that we entered the building for yet another pinewood derby.

Kyle and Jacob (even though Jacob was too young to compete.....he still wanted to race his car after it was over) drew their designs of their cars on paper and Todd brought the block of wood to our neighbor's house for a good ol' cutting. They were simple. They were back in five minutes. The cars were ready to be painted. They each picked out a color.....Todd spray-painted them. This year we actually bought rub-ons for the cars. They looked awesome.

This is Jacob's car.....



This is Kyle's car.....

This is Dallin's car.....from last year, though he added a few little things this year (the shiny metal sheets). He wasn't really planning on competing since he just turned 11, but they talked him into it when we got there and he decided to do it.

We got there plenty early to register and weigh in. Kyle was the first one to register. His car was #1. He was among the first group to race. When the cars came across the finish line, to our surprise, Kyle's car was first. Todd and I both looked at each other in shock and amazement. It's not that our kids' cars have never won a race (among the group), it's just that in this particular race, Kyle's car was pretty far ahead of everyone else's. Crazy!

As the races got going, the first 4 different races Kyle was in, he came out first each time. We couldn't believe it. And Dallin was doing well also. He wasn't winning them all, but he was doing okay. 1st, 2nd, 3rd.....about what our kids always do.

By the middle of the derby, we knew Kyle's car was pretty fast. We don't know how.....and we're pretty sure we couldn't repeat it, or give any secrets as to why (although Todd seems to think he has an idea.....), but each race, Kyle came out ahead. He was either first or a really close second. By the end of the first round of races, they tallied up all the scores of all 17 cars and narrowed it down to the final 6. Kyle's was one of those cars.

I've got to admit. This was kind-of exciting. We've never been in this position before. We've seen other parents and children get excited over having "the fastest car," but we've never experienced it first hand. Never. And we have a lot of boys. We've been to quite a few pinewood derbys in our time.

The last races were a little intense for me. By the end of the finals, Kyle had tied with one other car. They each had the same amount of wins and losses. So they decided to race the two to see whose car would win. They used tracks 1 and 2. Kyle won the first race. Then they switched the cars to each other's track. The other kid's car won. They were tied again. They switched the cars to tracks 3 and 4. Kyle won first. Then the other kid won. They were tied again. They did this for all 4 tracks, alternating each race, and each time, taking a turn at 1st place, then 2nd place. Talk about stress!

The final race they decided to race them individually on the same track and time them with a stop watch. Kyle's was first. His car's time was 3.1 seconds. It was FAST. It was exciting. Then it was the other kids' turn. He let go and I swear my heart skipped a beat. I held my breath. The guy timing yelled out.....3.1 seconds. It was very exciting. The two kids had tied and they decided to have them share the first place title. It was the perfect ending for me. I would have felt bad for the other kid if Kyle had won and I would have been disappointed for kyle to have him come so close and come home with 2nd place. In the end, it was the perfect way to go home.

Jacob with his car......

Dallin with his car.....and by the way, he was only one point away from being in the finals. Way to go Dallin!

The four kids who placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd.......Yes, that is Kyle in red pants! :)

It was a pretty exciting night. One I never expected or anticipated......and never will again. But it was fun. Good for you Kyle! Not bad for your first pinewood derby.

Now we have a title to defend......YIKES! (I hope that's really not true).