Derby Car

[JasonG172]

On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 11:54 AM, Tampa Turtle said:

After seeing an 'Officially Licensed by BSA' series of pre-cut cars (Formula shapes, truck shapes) at Lowes this weekend (the 'racer series')  I withdraw my earlier comments about ANY restrictions about ANYONE following the rules.

 

To this date (in my pack) those precut cars underperform at our derbies. 

[Eagledad]

There is a PWD formula somewhere on the internet the builds a program schedule so that each car gets to race a minimum of something like seven times. The objective of the derby is for the scouts to see their car run the track. They get to see their car race some many times that most scouts get bored.

The formula tells the operators which car goes on which track. It doesn't eliminate cars, it adds up points. After the minimum number of races have been run, points are added up to find the winner. The final race is a race off with the winners of each age group.

We had a large pack of 100 scouts, so we raced with two tracks to get the event done in under an hour. 

We would allow broken cars to get a pit fix, but that doesn't happen very often because the cars are turned in the night before and inspected for the reason that some boys bring cars that aren't quite up to competitive spec. We add a little weight to some car or balance the wheels on others. The goal is to get each car to finish all the races. 

It's was a big family event for our pack each year with refreshments. 

Barry

 

[Tampa Turtle]

19 hours ago, Eagledad said:

The goal is to get each car to finish all the races. 

 

EXACTLY. We did elimination heats but every car got to race at least twice. I think we went with a computer program as we often has 100 to 150 cubs in the pack.

[NateMom]

On ‎3‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 11:53 AM, MattHiggins said:

This happened one year to my son at districts. He previously won his den and had pretty fast car. When we went to districts he watched his car not even make it to the finish line. He was supposed to run four races--one in each lane. After the second race we just asked for the car. The tires had been inadvertently pushed in. All rubbed and one front tire wouldn't even turn. Oh well. He was disappointed and I was sad for him, but there was nothing anyone could do. The next year, he glued his axles in place and won districts.

That's exactly what happened to my sons.

[NateMom]

Thanks for advice guys.  I will defiantly do things different next year.  What made me mad was giving the first 8 cars more than one time down the track, but since their computer wasn't working and they where just doing brackets with use of a cell phone camera then my son being car 49 out of 50, they only gave it one shot and it malfunctioned.That was the end of that.  They said they weren't going to let him try again.  Another pack said that he was more than welcome to come race with them in the summer to see what it does. Perhaps we will go do that to see what the car should had done. 

[qwazse]

14 minutes ago, NateMom said:

...  Another pack said that he was more than welcome to come race with them in the summer to see what it does. Perhaps we will go do that to see what the car should had done. 

Wow, scouts being friendly (well, at least their leaders encouraging them to do so) who'da'thunk it?