Pinewood Derby

Tonight was Nathan's first Pinewood Derby. (Benjamin insists it is called the "down and derby", thanks to a cute DVD we have with that title!)


Ryan let Nathan totally decide the shape of his car. They penciled it out before cutting, and it was going to be cutting off quite a lot. Ryan told Nathan this and let him know that heavier cars will be faster in the race, but Nathan decided he wanted to keep it the way he had drawn it.

He had a lot of fun painting the car. It is silver, with gold writing on the top that says "good luck". He saved the wood piece that was cut off when making the car, and he painted it bright blue. Sometimes he uses it as a "cover" for his car, and other times it is a stand the car rests on.

We got to the Derby and when he weighed in he was told that he would need a LOT of washers attached to the car to make it about the same weight as most of the other scouts. He declined. Then he did a few trial runs before the event started and realized that his car was not as fast as a lot of others, so he went back to get some washers. They were all out and only had coins left. He reluctantly taped some money onto the car. (I think a few tears were shed on and off during these 15 minutes or so.)

Nathan's car is on the right

The derby track was state-of-the-art. The races were all timed with equipment that was part of the track, and the results of each heat were displayed on a projected computer screen just a second or two after the race finished. Each boy got to race 4 times and then the computer averaged out their times to determine the winners. On his heats, Nathan got 4th, 4th, 2nd, and 4th. After the first heat, he took some of the money off of his car. He took the rest of the coins off after the second heat and attributes his better results with that choice.

Nathan's car is 3rd one from left

Even though he didn't win, Nathan had a great attitude at the end. All of the boys received a pinewood derby kerchief slide, a ribbon, and "spare tires" for the treat (mini chocolate donuts). As we were leaving, Nathan told me he wants to save his car and use the same one in next year's derby. Glad to see his tears replaced with smiles by the end of the night!