church race classes

How to have useful construction workshops.
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davet
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church race classes

Post by davet »

Our first church derby event is finally going forward. My initial thinking was to have just one class and those cars would be required to be built by the kids during the workshops at the church using our supplies. I had thought this would work to prevent experienced builders from running away with the trophies when we're trying to attract kids from the neighborhood.
I then decided on 2 classes.
1) Built at church by any age racer using church kits and supplies.
2)The second class would be an open type class following NSC rules. This class could allow experienced racers to participate but not overrun new builders.

The glitch I have is how do I keep people from bringing fast scout cars from previous events to this race? Do I even need to prevent that?
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whodathunkit
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Re: church race classes

Post by whodathunkit »

Sounds good!
With your church built cars you'll know how the cars were built and by who for the event!

For your open class!
You will not know how or who built the cars!

Sounds like the 2 different classes are
To be ran all in good fun anyway!

Keep it fun.. and have fun finding the fastest cars .. I say!

Good luck davet!
Whoda


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davet
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Re: church race classes

Post by davet »

Thanks Whoda. I guess won't try to accidentally legislate the fun out of it. If someone comes from outside the workshops with a ringer from scouts it will just be someone a new, Open Class builder can aim for.
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Re: church race classes

Post by Speedster »

duvet, I believe I have an answer to your concerns.
Briefly, I will soon be involved in a workshop involving 100 Girl Scouts. This will be a one day affair (We Hope). The workshop will be about the Physics of the Pinewood Derby or put another way, SPEED. That will be the main theme. The wedge block cars will be purchased from Hodges Hobby House and possibly wheels and axles from Maximum Velocity. Lead rod will be used for weight. Cheap "pipe cleaners" will be purchased from Walmart. The scouts will check their wheels on a Concentricity gauge, polish bores with Novus 2, polish axles, etc. We will be using color duct tape for the basic color because of time restriction but you can do whatever you want with paint, etc.
I know you know how to build a fast car and your presentation will teach everyone the "why" this is necessary if you want to go fast. You will be amazed how close the races will be.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the Very Best for your workshop. It's a wonderful thing you are doing for the folks.
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davet
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Re: church race classes

Post by davet »

Speedster. I can't imagine the professional setup you need to have to accommodate 100 builds in a couple hours.
You bring up something that is causing me to do a little headscratching. How many workshops should we have and how long should they be? I have no idea how many kids and adults we'll get to show up. We'll be putting flyers out in the neighborhood around church and of course some church kids will bring friends...we hope. Should we have some kind of pre-registration for the workshop so we know what we're dealing with? We have probably 15 kids in our church that will be racing. I'm sure some adults will race too.
The Builder Class will be close racing like you describe. The kids will use pennies that we'll provide for weight and our MaxV kits. We'll help them prep wheels and axles and use oil only. They can add figurines and anything else they like. I'll let them take them home to paint just to save us the hassle of providing that and cleaning up.
I plan to have workstations for body, wheels, axles, assembly and alignment. Does this sound right or do you have a helper assigned to each kid or a couple kjds and just have them work with them from start to finish?
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davet
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Re: church race classes

Post by davet »

Also, how do we check-in cars. I understand the inspection process. After the car passes inspection it gets assigned a number. Does that number, class designation and racer name just get put on a list then given to the computer guy to add after the check-in is over?
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Re: church race classes

Post by gpraceman »

davet wrote:Also, how do we check-in cars. I understand the inspection process. After the car passes inspection it gets assigned a number. Does that number, class designation and racer name just get put on a list then given to the computer guy to add after the check-in is over?
Try to come up with a roster ahead of time. Best to list everyone, since you may not be sure who will or will not actually show up for the race. Load that list into the computer. Then update the computer with whoever passed the check-in inspection. If you can, have a computer at check-in and update it as racers check-in.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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Re: church race classes

Post by Speedster »

duvet, you have a much more complicated set-up then what I do.
All our scouts will be pre-registered and limited to 100. 4 groups of 25 will be assigned a time slot. The workshop will be from 9AM to 5PM.
Obviously there will be no cutting or sanding. Each scout will have an adult helper. We have enough Derby Worx tools to do what I want. My presentations will be very short and to the point. For more detailed information I will have BIG posters referring scouts to Derbytalk.com.

Our Cub Scout workshop is more like what you are doing. The most we have ever had in one day was 60. No time for lunch. That ran from 9AM to 6PM. We had 3 bandsaws, 2 belt/disc sanders and 5 hand sanders. We also had a lot of skilled derby folks that didn't need to be taught anything. The cars were later raced in whatever Pack they came from so inspection was up to them.

gpraceman has a good suggestion and I suspect others have done what you are doing. Perhaps you will receive lots of good ideas. Whatever happens, you will end up being the expert.
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