Derby Talk

Most parents think that fewer words == simpler rules == fewer complaints This is proveably not true, as anyone that's used the "rules in the box" and seen extended wheelbases show up at the race can attest. Some people lean toward "if it's not specificly mentioned you can," while...

I've been thinking about how to add a little pagentry to the whole Raingetter Regatta thing. What do you all think about something like this: --------------- A pirate in costume, doing his best Arrrrrrggggh-laden accent shows up at the event, or perhaps the pack meeting before the race: Pirate(bello...

I've seen a "suggested schedule" that says how many days/weeks in advance each aspect of the derby ought to be finished in planning. Does anyone know offhand where to find it? Our first committee/recruit-the-parents meeting is tonight and this would be a great tool to help me (or other PWD...

Block styrofoam works nicely as well

This is off topic, but I'm interested in it- maybe a new thread? I've now seen 2 race meets, both scored by time, and had some discussion of a 3 others, also scored by time. The timer is generally perceived as being scientific and infallible by the parents, and is trusted far more than it should be....

He finished 13th out of more than 30 Wolves, averages .05s off the leaders race time. Everyone's still got a lot to learn, I see. (-: My son and I were able to race in an Open division, and he beat me handily before explaining to me what I needed to do to go faster next year. Heh. The event was Loud...

So the multiple finishes may have nothing to do with it...

Thanks- I'll check the switch first!

We had some problems at the pack race with the timer feeding obviously bad results- 1st place reported 3.00s and others slower, every time there was an error. It almost looked like it was normalizing results to 3.00 somehow... Valid results showed the fastest cars running in the ~4s range, and we go...

We'l have to talk later- I'm Dery Chair for 225 next year, so I was quite torn between seeing how our Districts are run and watching my nephew race.

Ha!! A local! Which pack are you with? Actually, my nephew is in the Frontier district, so he's headed to Daniel's Chevrolet on the 13th rather than Flagler. We're going to cheer him on. But my son is High Plains 225, so we'd be meeting you in Flagler if it weren't for his pack race crash. See ya ne...

Huzzah, my nephew is going to districs after all! He had the fastest car in his pack, but a mechanical failure put him out of the top 3 so he wasn't thought to advance. (Different situation than the accident that got me and my son- whole family had bad luck at the pack level this year!) Anyhow, Sund...

rdeis, based on Warp Speed's success, if your car is faster with more weight on front, you are leaving something on the table, and the difference could be caused by the rear alignment. No question. There was MUCH room for improvement in the alignment. Using the Ultimate Speed Secrets test method I ...

joe wrote:Rear weighted, ours were about 1.1 and 1.2 oz on front wheel; I imagine that Ethan's car was considerably less than that.

Interesting! I mentioned in the long-track thread that ours has a little more front weight than even that, and it tested empiriclly faster than with the weight further aft.

rdeis, what do you think caused some cars to jump out of their lanes in the MIDDLE of the track? I can only think bad alignment would cause this. Good question. It didn't happen until near the end of the day, so it's possible that there was accumulated debris on the track or some unseen damage to t...

I started with the Ultimate Speed Tips book and found it helpful until I found this site! I see you made a version of his "Ultimate Car". I think it's a great book. Alex was able to read a couple of chapters as we prepared for each construction step, so we had things to talk about as we m...