Improving car between pack and district/council race?

General race coordinator discussions.
clemsontigerfanatic
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Re: Improving car between pack and district/council race?

Post by clemsontigerfanatic »

Our District allows us to modify our car between the Pack and District Race. Graphite and more glue is about all we have ever done. The best rules don't tempt someone to cheat.

Our rules also say the Cubmaster can impound the car only to keep it from getting damaged. Has'nt happened . No one wants that responsibilty.

We don't have the Dale problem but we now have a car with a cracked neck. The car now moves to the left about 2 inches across the kitchen table. The axles are epoxied in .

I think we will leave well enough alone. We have the District Race on the 9th in the afternoon and the Cubmobile Race in the morning. Can't wait .
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FRANKLIN WHALEY
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Re: Improving car between pack and district/council race?

Post by FRANKLIN WHALEY »

Clemson Fan, We had a car that split about a third of the car off when drilling the holes for the weight. I expoxied the section back on and it worked fine. Then after the car was tested and completely ready to race I dropped it on the kitchen floor. It broke off both wheels on the side it hit on and bent an axle. We strightened the axle and replaced the wheels. It ran the same when tested for two runs. My son convinced me not to run it anymore, so we didn't. At the local race it wasn't near as fast,even though it still won. We knew there was still something wrong. After closer inspection we saw a split on the bottom of the car about halfway through the axle hole. (we drill our holes). When we spin this wheel with a finger it would chatter. The other side ran smooth. We started to just build another car since this one seemed to be jinxed. Instead we crazy glued the split and realigned the car. After more runs down the track it was back to the original speed. It won the state race last weekend. We prayed the whole time the glue and expoxy would hold up. Since you have a good bit of time until your race, it would definitey help your sons chances if the car was running straight again. I'm sure there will be some stiff competition at that level. If the car is moving two inches the length of a table, it's going to start bumping the rail fairly early. This kind of thing is really what this topic is all about. I think our cases are prime examples of when to work on a car between races. Good Luck at Districts!!
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clemsontigerfanatic
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Re: Improving car between pack and district/council race?

Post by clemsontigerfanatic »

Pulled on the front wheel. Came right out.
Took out a offical cubscout pocketknife opened up the slot some. Stuck the axle and wheel back in runs straight. Glued it back in stuck in a shoe box and plan on leaving it alone until district. :wink: I let you know how it goes.
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Jungle Jim
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Re: Improving car between pack and district/council race?

Post by Jungle Jim »

Looking into the proverbial bucket of worms just opened
Stan Pope wrote:
GoneFission wrote:... our district expectation is you bring the car what qualified ya.
Interesting issue from a separate thread: "Should a youngster be allowed to improve his car between the qualifying pack race and the subsequent district/council race?"

Preparation for and participating in the pack races is a learning experience for the youngster and, often, for his mentor. The preparation for and participation in the district race offers similar opportunities. Should they be denied? In my opinion, no. If the youngster/mentor team has learned and wish to apply that learning promptly, rather than waiting another year, then they should be allowed to do so.

Are there other considerations that I'm missing? For instance, would this be perceived as giving that youngster an advantage over those who did not qualify to participate in the district/council race? Is the risk of doing more harm than good to the entrant's car too great? ...
Our Council ruling is no mods other than adding "graphite" to wheels.
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Re: Improving car between pack and district/council race?

Post by Jungle Jim »

Darin McGrew wrote:
Stan Pope wrote:Are there other considerations that I'm missing?
As I said in an earlier discussion, I think it is unfair for the organizers of the district race to prohibit improvements between local and district races (unless the cars are impounded).
Impounding cars was the worst! First a Pack leader kept the winners, then a District leader, then they went to the Council race. Not only was it nerve racking enough for these poor souls, but in the crowds you could here the parents talking like a conspiracy was going on when there son didn't win!

Man that stunk! Glad that's in the past.
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Jungle Jim
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Re: Improving car between pack and district/council race?

Post by Jungle Jim »

Cory wrote:Consider the case of Dale.
<snip>
Why would you hold a Cub Scout to a more stringent standard?
A Cub Scout, at the most, will race for 5 years. Usually he will race at no more than 3 races in a year. As such, I dont believe that a Cub Scout could afford the chance of a "rules violation" that DE or any Nascar driver can when you figure the percentages. This is certainly apples to oranges.
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Re: Improving car between pack and district/council race?

Post by Jungle Jim »

GoneFission wrote:
What penalty am I advocating imposing? How am I hurting the scout. All I advocate is bring the pack winning cars to the event that winning the pack qualified them for.
Amen!
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Tomcat14
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Re: Improving car between pack and district/council race?

Post by Tomcat14 »

I think "tuning up" is fine, but unless a car is damaged beyond repair, you shouldn't be allowed to build a new one for districts. I know that sounds short and simple, but that's pretty much the jist of how I feel about it.
With Christ we are all Winners!!
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