Last night Ammon did something that has maybe only been done once in the Clark family. You guys will have to correct me if I am wrong but I think there has only been one other time that a Clark boy has swept the Pinewood Derby! Ammon's car not only won, but, by a process of elimination he didn't have to race every car - and because he didn't have to do that, all the boys in the ward lined up to race against Ammon's car after it was determined that Ammon was the winner. His car beat every single car in the ward! It didn't matter which side of the track it was on, either. He was a pretty excited kid last night! I took pictures after we got home with his certificate, award ($100,000 candy bar) and the car but I don't have the correct equipment with Jess' camera to get it on the blog. I'll have Jess put it on this weekend.
Three years ago Jim told Mike that he was tired of helping make these cars and never having them win so he solicited design ideas from Mike. They put their talents to work - design and building. Jim has helped with so many of these cars that he knows how to build them. The design is sleek and low to the ground. It weighed in at 4.99 lb - can't be over 5 lbs. Jim put liquid silicon on the wheels yesterday and adjusted one wheel a little and the thing took off. We have used this car three years in a row. Ammon chose the color (dark purple) and helped paint it. Since he can't participate a great deal in the making of the car but likes to participate in the races, we decided to use the same car every year. There's nothing in the rules that says you can't do that. The first year he came in second - last year he placed about 4th or 5th. With the minor adjustments Jim made this year, he was a winner. So --- for all you dads that are about to embark on such a journey, we will post the picture so you can see the shape and your kids can take a look at it. Good luck boys!! It's taken 6 boys (that's about 16 cars over the years - minus the rocket and boat years) and a dad a lot of effort. Ammon may be in cub scouts one more year, but probably not so this may be the last Pinewood Derby of our lives. CAN I SAY YEAH?!?!?!?
2 comments:
Good job Ammon!!!
Well, I know I never won anything at the Pinewood Derby. I'm glad he did well last night!
I remember two distinct designs I had: one was the shape of an airplane wing, but upside down. We were thinking that if a wing gives you lift, let's turn it over and it will help keep it low to the ground and hopefully faster. Nope.
I also made one that looked like a simple wedge, but with about a 1" hole drilled through the middle. Same results. Mediocrity.
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