The Wilsons: Wave The Checkered Flag

Cole and Judd have a project they love doing together--the Boy Scouts' Pinewood Derby. This was their 3rd year to construct, design, and race a car. The first year, they were ably led by master craftsman, Dr. Ryan. He had all the tools and the brain power to lead them into their first car race. The last two years, Judd and Cole have put away the saws and paint brushes and have opted for a pre-shaped car and skins--a wrap for the car. Last year's car ran fast and they were hoping to have the same luck this time around. The track was set up the night before the race for test drives. The boys weighed their car and it was at it's maximum weight limit- 5 ounces. Apparently the heavier the car, the faster it races. That way of thinking is quite foreign to me. Bigger is better? Last year's car weighed in at 4.6 and was quite speedy. I asked Judd NOT to race the car against someone. Call it pre-race jitters or supersition, but I knew that we would either "worry" that it didn't appear to run fast or have a false sense of security thinking it was the fastest car in the lot. And behaving as good men do, they did exactly what I asked them NOT to do and raced it. And you can probably guess the outcome...it ran a little slow. Trying to stay positive and adopt the "winning isn't everything" school of thought, we (led by me) schemed and planned all the way home just exactly what was making the car run so much "slower." "The wheels on last year's car were just faster," Judd explained. The heavier weight of the car entered my mind as to why it drug along the track this time. Still, he said that wasn't the reason. Maybe the weights were dispersed differently and in the wrong places, he explained. And then, a light bulb went off! If last year's wheels were faster and our heavier car was better, why not "borrow" the wheels from that one and replace on this one? Brilliant thinking, Mom! Judd gave me several reasons why it might not work. If the nails were stripped taking them out, it would be for nothing. But it wouldn't mess up this year's car by trying, so he did as I suggested. Successfully, Judd switched the wheels and we all went to sleep knowing we had the winning car. Not that winning is everything, because it's not. The next morning, we walked into the gym at St. James' proudly and with great confidence. The first thing the scouts do upon arrival is to weigh in their car. Remember the night before, we were right at 5 ounces. This morning, we were all completely shocked to see the new weight as 5.10. Seriously???!! I guess the wheels from this year were not the same weight as the wheels from last year, eventhough they were both scout-issued wheels. Luckily, Judd brought his Drimmel (pocket drill) in case any minor adjustments were needed. So, he went over to an electrical outlet and began drilling away some wood from the bottom of the car. He did quite a bit and took it over to be weighed. 5.10-- nothing changed. He did this 2-3 more times and the car remained at 5.10. Other scouts and their dads began to congregate around Judd, which did nothing but make him more nervous. "I can't do this without some protective goggles or something. Go get your sunglasses." So I went to the car for my shades. Judd looked quite a sight, but he didn't care under the circumstances. The time left in order to qualify was ticking away, so Judd began drilling away some of the metal weights. This made a lot of noise and put off a "metal smell." If anyone in the gym hadn't tuned into what was happening with our car, they did at this point. I had to walk away from the action and sit on the bleachers. I was making Judd nervous in an already uptight situation. The car was now weighing in at 5.05. Better, but not enough in order to qualify. This went on several more times. Finally! The car was weighing in at 5 ounces. Wait a minute, I needed a picture of the car ON the scale, so instead of giving the car to the judges, we put it back on the scale for a photo op. Guess what? Now the scale read at 5.03. If you could have seen Judd's expression, you would have heard the nonverbal tongue lashing he was giving me in his head right that minute. He had to run back to the drill and take away a little more. By this point, I walked away from the car and the camera, for fear of what might happen to me if I didn't! Judd raced to the drimmel and took away a little more of the underbody until it weighed in at 5.00, at which point he did the photography. Weighed in and registered, we waited for our turn at the race. It won a few races and lost a few. It didn't place, but Cole was excited to receive the "Most Unique Design" award. After all, winning isn't everything. A lesson learned all too well by Mom and Dad.