How much success is best?

General topics of interest to racers and race coordinators alike.
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Noskills
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How much success is best?

Post by Noskills »

Reading and responding to my "back up car" post got me thinking. In my pack my son did not even place in his den. We won scouts favorite so all well. Next year I plan to use the knowledge gained here to improve our times. Our pack and district use the same rules and I know the pack inspection is very light (or less restrictive in their rule interpretation) and I will assume the district is tougher (yet I hear many of you saying that the response you get to a rule query may not match the actual inspection, so thank you for that insight).

Here is my question: If we place in the top 3 in the pack and my son is thrilled is it worth even going to districts? We might get beaten pretty badly. We might have a tougher inspector say that a drilled axel hole with a slot cut into the wood on top of it is not using the slots and get DQ'ed. (let also assume that the car was not so much faster than the others at the pack that I really thought we had a great chance to place at districts; in that case there would be no question :bigups: )

Thoughts on how much success is enough?

Noskills
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FatSebastian
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Re: How much success is best?

Post by FatSebastian »

Noskills wrote:If we place in the top 3 in the pack and my son is thrilled is it worth even going to districts?
:thinking: I would ask my son what he wanted to do about the District race and then do what he wanted. If he wants to go then it is worth going.
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drathbun
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Re: How much success is best?

Post by drathbun »

I asked my boys last year. I'm not sure they got the concept that if they lost in our pack races (were not in the top 3 within our pack) the odds of winning at district were slim. They just wanted to go, so we went. I thought they would be disappointed but they had fun. Last year our district offered a champions division (to enter you must have placed in the top 3 in your pack) and an open division (available to anyone who wanted to race). The top 3 from the open division also made it into the champions division. My younger boy placed 3rd in the open district race, and so he got to move on to the champions division.

Where his car proceeded to get smoked, regularly. :lol:

But it didn't matter, he loved the experience. Which is why we're doing it again this year.
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ciodude
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Re: How much success is best?

Post by ciodude »

I think it is all about the journey, not the end result. If you and your boy spent quality time together, you teaching/him learning (or him teaching/you learning), on subjects from sportsmanship and physics to design and woodworking then you had a successful PWD. If along the way you collected speed or design prizes at the Den or Pack level, it’s just icing on the cake.
resullivan
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Re: How much success is best?

Post by resullivan »

I would go for the fun of it. Our district was really big having 200+ cars. Top 20 got a trophy. If nothing else it will help you and your son see some of the other designs. We were supprised at some of the cars that did so well. This included a car using lead instead of tungsten, and a car that kind of looked like a bumble bee design (it was full sized in the back and kind of curved to a point, wish I had a picture of it). Anyway, you will see that it is not always super thin, tungsten weighted cars that do well.
Shawn Stebleton
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Re: How much success is best?

Post by Shawn Stebleton »

Ask your son if he would like to see designs of other cars in the district. He might get ideas. Are the fastest cars thin, with weights hidden inside/underneath? Which ones wiggle and which ones don't? Can you ask the dads of the sons with the better cars what they did to get them to run fast?

See how the district race is run. Go for the experience. If it inspires desire in him for doing better, great! If he then is able to improve his build technique and is able to place higher in the pack so he *earns* the right to go to districts, he will know what to expect and won't fret so much over what happens.
Noskills wrote:We might have a tougher inspector say that a drilled axel hole with a slot cut into the wood on top of it is not using the slots and get DQ'ed.
If you and your son go, you both will get a chance to see first-hand how they inspect. The main purpose of the rule about slots is to keep the nails visible, to prove they are BSA axles. Most of them know there are irregularities in the blocks, especially non-square slots, so correcting the deficiencies by making your own slots isn't a big deal. They're looking at the use of BSA axles and not necessarily the original slots. Your mileage may vary.

I would suggest to go--even if there are disappointments. Set expectations low and plan to learn from the experience. If you finish higher than you dread, you're ahead.
Shawn
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PeterT
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Re: How much success is best?

Post by PeterT »

This year was our fifth year at districts, and the first and only year where our Cub won first place, made all the sweeter by being at the end of a four year journey. The experience of being in the bottom half in the first year, then every year doing a little better, was truly worth it.

I don't think we had a chance at first place, had we not had the experience of the prior four years.

Like Wayne Gretzky says: “You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.”
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Noskills
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Re: How much success is best?

Post by Noskills »

Thanks all.

I think I will go to districts with my son just for the experience and to eyeball the inspection station :idea:

Appreciate the input,

Noskills
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macd
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Re: How much success is best?

Post by macd »

In my neck of the woods, there are very few kids activities that actually have winners and losers.
Sports teams don't keep score, ribbons for everyone at the science fair, and everyone gets a trophy/medal/ribbon for showing up to most any event.
The pinewood derby is a welcome change. Last year we won our rank in the pack, and placed low-middle in the district.
My son got the life experience of winning and losing all with one car. :thumbup:

But, by far the most rewarding experience for him was the construction. The car was his vision and his labor, even though he had to put up with with an OCD derby dad teaching him the skills and science behind each step. :D
46u

Re: How much success is best?

Post by 46u »

I can only guess as this is our first year and my grandson took 1st in his pack. We are going to the next round this coming up weekend. You have a lot more competition at the district as well as get to learn much more. Besides that if I did not take him it would break his heart. I have to say I am as or maybe more so excited then he is. At the first round I had at least as much fun as he did. :rofl:
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