Search found 1812 matches

by Darin McGrew
Sun Feb 11, 2024 6:06 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Rule Interpretation
Replies: 13
Views: 794

Re: Rule Interpretation

Any rule that bans a car that could be accidentally built is a bad rule, IMO. AMEN! For the record, we had a kid try to build a three-wheel car where the odd wheel rode on top of the rail. I pointed out that the wheel would drop into the slot at the top of the rail (the one the starting pin swings ...
by Darin McGrew
Fri Sep 15, 2023 1:01 pm
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: wood burning cars.
Replies: 2
Views: 11926

Re: wood burning cars.

Here is a video that I just ran across on wood burning pinewood derby cars with a propane torch. While searching for Pyrography (wood burning) for adding details in pinewood derby cars.. that id like to share ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjfwrU4CoVE While I like the idea and the looks of burnt...
by Darin McGrew
Tue Jul 18, 2023 8:04 am
Forum: General Topics
Topic: World's Cheapest Pinewood Derby Car Display Stand
Replies: 8
Views: 24697

Re: World's Cheapest Pinewood Derby Car Display Stand

Balance the car on a two-ounce plastic portion container (such as the Solo Soufflés brand cups) turned upside-down, and then insert a push-pin or thumbtack from the inside up into the bottom of the car. Done. :mrgreen: Wow! That's brilliant! We've used small paper cups (the 3oz size used in cup dis...
by Darin McGrew
Fri Jun 23, 2023 6:57 pm
Forum: News and Announcements
Topic: Derby Talk Turns 20
Replies: 6
Views: 35799

Re: Derby Talk Turns 20

Congratulations!
by Darin McGrew
Sun Jun 18, 2023 12:35 pm
Forum: Planning, Preps & Running the Race
Topic: Race Duration?
Replies: 3
Views: 14839

Re: Race Duration?

Randy already covered the main suggestions I have: do the registration and inspection (weight, dimensions, etc.) before race day, and plan for a minute per race (plus intro, awards, etc.). With the registration and inspection done a day or three before race day, you can also have the design judges d...
by Darin McGrew
Thu Feb 09, 2023 7:21 am
Forum: Software
Topic: GPRM v20, questions about - Awards / Audience Display / Modernize a track
Replies: 6
Views: 5370

Re: GPRM v20, questions about - Awards / Audience Display / Modernize a track

Overall 1st 2nd 3rd trophies Certificates for 1st 2nd 3rd per Rank (Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, AOL, and Siblings) but NOT if you are an overall 1st 2nd 3rd (IE our grand champion wins overall 1st place but then the next fastest in the Den win's the Den 1st place) Finally we bring in a guest ...
by Darin McGrew
Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:48 pm
Forum: General Topics
Topic: Are Pinewood Derby cars still the least inexpensive racing!
Replies: 5
Views: 8638

Re: Are Pinewood Derby cars still the least inexpensive racing!

anyway chime in with you're thought's on what you would spend in supplies starting out to build a Pinewood Derby Car . It's been a while since I've been involved with a local derby, but IIRC, about 10 years ago, we were charging participants $10 each (with scholarships available if that was too muc...
by Darin McGrew
Thu Apr 21, 2022 4:35 pm
Forum: Scheduling Methods
Topic: First Round Qualifier Followed by Round 2 and 3 Perfect N
Replies: 3
Views: 6070

Re: First Round Qualifier Followed by Round 2 and 3 Perfect N

I've never run a derby with a finish gate that provided times (just finish order).

But the point of Perfect N scheduling is to make the competition as balanced as possible for a points-based scoring system using finish order. It really doesn't do much if you're basing everything on times.
by Darin McGrew
Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:09 pm
Forum: Software
Topic: GPRM image usage
Replies: 2
Views: 7118

Re: GPRM image usage

leerbennett wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:03 pmDo you show images of kids or cars in Grand Prix Race manager?
We used a homebrew system rather than GPRM, but we showed photos of the cars. We took the photos on registration night, so everything would be ready on race night.
by Darin McGrew
Tue Dec 21, 2021 11:23 am
Forum: General Coordinator Topics
Topic: Car First Aid Kit
Replies: 5
Views: 12198

Re: Car First Aid Kit

I am always amazed at how many cars that I see checked in that have not been lubed at all. Ditto. We had our lube station just outside the room where we checked in cars, and the crew checking in cars tried to verify that everyone had lubed their wheels and axles. Still, we occasionally had cars tha...
by Darin McGrew
Fri May 21, 2021 3:21 pm
Forum: General Topics
Topic: CBC JAX AWANA Grand Prix Video
Replies: 5
Views: 12506

Re: CBC JAX AWANA Grand Prix Video

mclewis_13 wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 12:40 pmThought you guys might like to see our video from our races.
Thanks for sharing! I loved some of those designs!
by Darin McGrew
Wed Aug 26, 2020 9:17 am
Forum: General Coordinator Topics
Topic: How to Still Run Your Race This Year
Replies: 8
Views: 23637

Re: How to Still Run Your Race This Year

The real question to me is how to run derby workshops. The derbies I've been involved with have always invested at least as much time and effort into the workshops as into the race itself.
by Darin McGrew
Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:53 pm
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Best All Around CA Glue !!
Replies: 11
Views: 18329

Re: Best All Around CA Glue !!

For derby purposes, I tend to get gel CA glues, because they work better for emergency repairs (when the parts may no longer mate perfectly). They also work well for attaching decorations during workshops (although I use epoxy and wood glue for that too). I also tend to get the packages that have se...
by Darin McGrew
Sun Mar 22, 2020 7:35 pm
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Small Body Crack Repair
Replies: 6
Views: 14592

Re: Small Body Crack Repair

Darin, I am truly shocked your rules have gone in the other direction. Well, like most rules changes, this one was in response to a technique that was considered unfair. At the time, I voted to make the technique available to everyone at our workshops, but the majority decided to go with the rule t...