Until a few weeks ago I had never even heard of the Pinewood Derby. Hunter's Den Leader handed us the rules and guidelines for the event and a block of wood packaged in a cardboard box and I was clueless. Thank goodness John's dad is a master woodworker!! John handed over the block of wood with the sketch he drew that Hunter chose and hours later it came back looking like a car! Amazing!! What a fantastic and useful talent. We are so lucky!Hunter helped paint it and told John he wanted lightning bolts on the side. John did some research and added weight to the car. Before heading out to the derby he said, "This is the best car ever!" He was pretty excited to put his car to the test. John hoped that Hunter would at least win one of the three heats he raced.
When we arrived and Hunter saw the trophies his eyes lit up. "I hope I win a trophy!" he kept saying. I tried to bring him back down to Earth. Afterall, there were at least 30 other r
acers vying for that prize and this was our first time ever attending such a race. When we registered his car it came out to weigh about 4.5 oz. John asked, "Is that good?" and the guy said, "Well, you want it to weigh as close to 5 as you can. Why don't you tape a couple of coins to the top and see if that helps?" So we got a few quarters and some tape and bingo! It was five oz. exactly. It didn't look as cute as before but if it made the car faster and was legal, who cares?
acers vying for that prize and this was our first time ever attending such a race. When we registered his car it came out to weigh about 4.5 oz. John asked, "Is that good?" and the guy said, "Well, you want it to weigh as close to 5 as you can. Why don't you tape a couple of coins to the top and see if that helps?" So we got a few quarters and some tape and bingo! It was five oz. exactly. It didn't look as cute as before but if it made the car faster and was legal, who cares? There were three lanes on the track so each heat had three cars racing. Hunter came in second in his first heat and he was pretty excited...
but not as excited as when he came in first on the second two! 
but not as excited as when he came in first on the second two! 
They average out your speed on all three lanes and award top three times for each den as well as top three overall for the pack. Hunter came in second place in his den and fourth overall for the pack. He won his very first trophy! 
You would have thought that he had just won a million dollars in the lottery by his reaction. It was so much fun to watch. 
The little boy who won first place in his den won second place overall so he had pretty tough competition. He missed third overall by less than a tenth of a second. He didn't seem to care at all. He was so proud to have won that trophy! 
Tyler and Brody had a blast too. They brought along their hot wheels and were racing them on the floor. What a great family outing!
You would have thought that he had just won a million dollars in the lottery by his reaction. It was so much fun to watch. 
The little boy who won first place in his den won second place overall so he had pretty tough competition. He missed third overall by less than a tenth of a second. He didn't seem to care at all. He was so proud to have won that trophy! 
Tyler and Brody had a blast too. They brought along their hot wheels and were racing them on the floor. What a great family outing!
