Bushy Run District 2014 Cub races

General discussions for car and semi-truck racers.
tmack
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Re: Bushy Run District 2014 Cub races

Post by tmack »

Shawn Stebleton wrote: My son came in 4th. He said "Are you kidding???" He is a good sport about it. We figured out that if his third run (lane 1) had been halfway between the times of his first two runs, he would have won 1st, all other things being equal. That is what an alignment that is just off a bit can do. Either that, or the car didn't have enough drift to the rail. It was about 3 inches in 3-1/2 feet. Last year was 8 inches and he won 1st place. That track is rougher than our old wood track.
Makes me wonder how you guys would have done with 8"/4 drift. Might have been the magic number again! We actually wanted 5" knowing you used 8" last year. Oh well.

And yes the competition at districts was very high. At pack we blew the doors off everybody by at least a car length most heats....but at the mall a lot of cars had the right stuff. Wonder how many of those dads were lurking around in DT? lol

Thanks for the district race history as well...all the way back to 2007! I didn't realize you been in the PWD game that long. I really enjoyed the pics of the old wooden track. So if they switched to a different track in 2012, then all we can say is L DFW=2 R DFW=1 for past 3 seasons.....not much go on haha. But at least we added some history on DT for the future Bushy Run contenders to ponder.
Shawn Stebleton
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Re: Bushy Run District 2014 Cub races

Post by Shawn Stebleton »

Yes, next year will be the first that we won't be at the district race. It's amazing we've been to 8 straight--all of them since they started it back up. What's kind of funny is that my older son Jacob would not have qualified his first year if the district had had a race--he was middle of the pack. It was our first year and together we experienced the learning curve. I didn't find DT until just before his first district race and I spent the whole summer lurking and learning. I could never contribute enough to make up for what gleaned from everyone, but I'll keep trying.

On an aside, we've always invited friends of the family to enjoy the races. Just a few. One of them was there Jacob's final year and started talking with a guy she kinda knew from work. They hit it off, talking more than watching the races. They got married this past summer.

And what if a different pack is selected to host the district race next year??? It's been a Laurel Hills District pack that hosts it, due to the mall being smack dab in the middle of their district. It's a blessing that our district can use it for our district race, too, since they have their races in the morning and ours are in the afternoon. I've never been to one of their races, but according to their rules, it is run the exact same way. Their leadership sure has a long day. I try to make sure my sons thank the host pack leaders that run the event, but my son made it upstairs to mom before I could remind him this year.
Shawn
Shawn Stebleton
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Re: Bushy Run District 2014 Cub races

Post by Shawn Stebleton »

Hey tmack. I just went through some notes and discovered that the "1st place" winner was the 2nd place winner last year, between our boys. Don't know if that factored into selecting which of the tied cars was declared the winner.
Shawn
tmack
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Re: Bushy Run District 2014 Cub races

Post by tmack »

After all of this, its funny, we were prepared to lose to your son but not to anyone else because of the history from last year (1 vs 3 rematch!!!).
Totally forgot about the 2nd place dad/cub team from last year. So yeah its fitting they won 1st. Wasn't a fluke. Was really hoping for a 1,2 finish for our boys. Oh well. The universe is in balance again LOL
Tom
Shawn Stebleton
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Re: Bushy Run District 2014 Cub races

Post by Shawn Stebleton »

I can't complain at all. My sons have learned a LOT! That's the most important aspect of this whole Pinewood Derby thing. That and being able to spend time with them explaining physics, wood working, polishing, etc. Hopefully they will remember the time we spent together fondly as the years go by.

Isaac had a good run, winning 1st in districts in the Tiger Cub division, then 12th, 2nd, 1st, and 4th in the Cub division the next four years. Two first place trophies in that span is super. Many never get any trophy, but if they learn and do, then they are winners, too.

The funniest thing regarding us is that at Jacob's final district race, a dad asked us about his car and we were very open with what we did and our understanding of the physics of it, and how his car came about. That dad was john4840, and what we gave away in information helped his son RJ win the Cub division the next three straight years, beating Isaac in his first two years in the Cub division!
Shawn
john4840
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Re: Bushy Run District 2014 Cub races

Post by john4840 »

Shawn Stebleton wrote:The funniest thing regarding us is that at Jacob's final district race, a dad asked us about his car and we were very open with what we did and our understanding of the physics of it, and how his car came about. That dad was john4840, and what we gave away in information helped his son RJ win the Cub division the next three straight years, beating Isaac in his first two years in the Cub division!
Shawn's Son Jacob's car was eye opener for us. I never thought a car could be so thin. It did give us inspiration on what to designs for my Son's last three years in the Cub Scouts. We took that information and we also passed it on to others to try to help them be better.

John
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