BSA vs. Pine Pro

[pack529holycross]

We have decided on a temporary fix. This year any no BSA cars will be allowed to race in the Pack's pwd. However if they qualify to go onto the district, a BSA car will take their place.

I feel somewhat responsible for this whole thing. In my speed class I talked about getting weight and accessories at other stores. This is where I think the people got the idea to use the Pine Pro kits. Next year the rules will be laid out very clearly and if anyone shows up with a non-BSA car they go into the open race.

I have to say being the Chairman of the PWD Committee is kinda killing my love of the race.

I provided about 30 wheels that were mildly prepped as replacements for any cars that had issues with wheel profiles, type, or size. The competitors could choose to use any of those, or bring a spare set in case of an issue.

[bad_karma_2805a1]

How would you like to win this?

[bad_karma_2805a1]

So we had the PWD yesterday and 97% of it was great! The cars we had were awsome and all the docations and other items I got made the gym look great.

The reason this thread was started was because of the rules not being followed by all competitors. We decided that while a non-spec car could race in our race, it could not move onto the district race. To move onto the distrcit race you have to be one of the top three cars in each rank. The Committee decided this was the best rule for everyone involved.

Yesterday about half way thru the race the "hallway talk" started. I was told it wasn't aimed at my one son, (his car was a kit and didn't have BSA wheels and was winning every race), but a parent was wondering how a non-spec car could even win a trophie. Now the committee had made the decision that the rules would stand as we made them, I made the final call that all non-spec cars would be given a 5 second penalty DNF finish, which would remove any non-spec cars (including my youngest son's) from any chance at winning.

It was hard to keep the happy face on for the rest of the day knowing that my boy, who had picked out the car of his dreams and was watching it win every race, would not get a trophy and more to the point wouldn'y understand way. So after it was all said and done, even with all the penalties the car still made it into 10th place.

There were a few realities I came to face yesterday. A) There is no way in the world you can make everyone happy. B) Doing the right thing can sometimes hurt the ones you love the most. And C) The parent who is making the most noise is the one who's kid's car is always coming in last.

Thank you all for your advice on this tread. I will post pics of the race when I get them.

[Fatdaddy]

That belt is awesome! Where could you buy something like that?

Sorry to hear about the negative comments in your race, people just can't handle someone else doing better than them, especially if the complaining person didnt put in the effort

[bad_karma_2805a1]

I designed the belt and then handed it off to the tooling department who turned it into the aluminum plate you see. Two side plates for the winners names will be added later.

[Duane]

That Champion's belt buckle is awesome!

I bet Lester could laser-cut something similar into hardwood, and then mount it onto a plain metal buckle. That could be manufactured in quantity for lots of packs' winners, and a new one given out each year.

[pack529holycross]

I would say that you should first learn about Pinewood Derby Race operations and logistics from others who have done it a while. The one thing you have to do is to provide a baseline for construction and racing specs. That baseline can be whatever you want it to be. It is recommended that the Committee running the COUNCIL races provide the baseline for the entire Council, District, and PACK races, so that the baseline is consistent throughout the levels of racing. I have been doing this for the Central Florida Council Derby and Seminole Springs Derby ( and Pack 529 Race ) for two years now and you will likely find alot less "hallway talk" if your rules are consistent, comprehensive, and CLEARLY distributed no later than Nov 1st.

I recommend that you provide a feedback flyer to all your parents - give them every opportunity to complain, compliment, question, or possibly VOLUNTEER to assist in next years race.

I recommend that you provide at least TWO dedicated meetings to Rules Evolution, which encompasses problems with your past races:

1. what went right, that we need to remember to do this year

2. what went marginally well, and could be retained if we tweak it a bit

3. what went terribly wrong, and should be completely re-thunked or dropped altogether

This "plan do review" is critical as a post mortem - you should do this right after the race so everything is fresh in everyones mind

The next thing is to really KNOW the baseline yourself. This is not me being critical of your performance as Chairman, but there are a few things you really should be aware of:

Pinewood Derby Wheels and Axles are drastically different than Pinecar products

Precut Bodies are not quite as critical ( in my opinion ) to performance, because even a laser cut, engineering masterpiece still has to be BUILT in order to be raced. Buying a precut RAW WOOD body is something we loosened restrictions on this year just from a perspective of enforcement. The sheer number of design options would fill a book too big to really be able to consistently enforce. Every once in a while a EBAY car can pop up.

There is a BRAND NEW wheel being produced this year which is far superior to last years BSA wheels ( both are official BSA products ). Our pack bough UNCUT raw PWD blocks and then wheel sets gauranteed to be the new style in enough quantities for all who wanted to buy them within the pack. This meant that every kid started with exactly the SAME baseline for construction.

Hope the feedback helps - the racing guide I have been evolving is located at http://2010derby.futureeagles.com" target="_blank Let me know if you want a DOC version to cut up and use as your guide ( thats called R&D - robb and duplicate..LOL )

Nicholas