Pinewood Derby 2010
The evening began with the three of us arriving slightly early to the Meredith Mathews YMCA in Seattle. Jaxon car was weighed in and was still on the light side. I knew that Andy, Isaac’s Dad was going to bring more weights, so they kept Triple Speed out to see if they could add more weight.
We had just settled down at one of the tables to hang out when one of the organizers came over and asked me if I could help out at the registration desk. They needed another person to help weigh in cars. I gave Darrell my camera and went to help out. It was fun to see all the cars. It was also interesting how many of the people worked to get the car right up to 170 grams/6 ounces.
When the weigh in was finished, I saw that Jaxon and Darrell had staked out a great spot, mid-track to watch the races. I was actually asked to help with running the cars; I would sit at the end of the track and bring the cars back up to the starting point. I had a great view of the track. I was super excited to see Triple Speed in the starting blocks for the first time. It was a good race and Triple Speed came in first place! Jaxon was jubilant! It was so fun to see his face… He and Darrell shared a high five and he continued to beam.
Each car had 4 heats, and there were 100 cars in the field. It kept moving at a pretty good pace, but it also took awhile to get thru the first round. Triple Speed did great! It had two first place finishes and two second place finishes. At the end of the first round, the race manager announced the 16 cars that would be racing in the finals. Jaxon and Triple Speed made it into the finals!!!! Woohoo! He was so happy.
Of course at this point the competition is at its best! Triple Speed was lined up in the second heat of the finals round. It was going against the best of the best! Triple Speed crossed the line in fourth place. Jaxon thought this was the only race in the finals and was very disappointed that his car didn’t win. The races in the finals were all really close! Triple Speed fared better in subsequent races coming in the middle of the pack in two other races.
Isaac’s car also did well in the first round, and won at least one of the heats it was in. He had a cool design of a whale.
Jaxon watched the whole time. He was quite engrossed in the whole event. He really wanted his car to have done better in the finals, but he was able to understand that even though he didn’t win the finals, that his car did really well. Happily when asked if overall he enjoyed the pinewood derby event he said a resounding “Yes”!
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Interview between Race car owner Jaxon Gordon and Ace reporter MG.
MG: What was your favorite part of this year’s pinewood derby experience Mr Gordon?
JG: Getting into the finals, and winning the first race of my first pinewood derby!
MG: Mr Gordon what did you like best about your car this year?
JG: Watching it race! It was very fun. Everything was fun, especially the drilling and going to the races. Two Thumbs up!
MG: Thank you Mr Gordon for your thoughts!
