Showing posts with label Derbies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Derbies. Show all posts

Saturday, March 19, 2016

The Last Pinewood Derby - 2016


It was many years ago, when Grayson looked at his oldest son competing in a Pinewood Derby race, that he decided it would be worth it to invest in a track and timer, to make sure all the Blackham Boys would have a great Pinewood Derby experience. Through the years, he's run so many races! All the races for his own boys. And this past Tuesday, March 15, 2016 ... was the final Pinewood Derby for a Blackham boy. Colton, now 10, will age out of cub scouts later this year. This, was the last derby. Of course, with track/timer/tables/trailer ... Gray will continue to run them for our ward and others, but he won't have HIS son as one of the racers. 

Due to dwindling numbers in the scouting program, three wards (the Jordan Oaks 1st, 2nd and 7th) came together in a single night. There were 23 racers. In the weeks prior to the race, as in years before, Grayson opened up our garage, his tools, and his knowledge, for a derby workshop. Helping parents and boys complete their cars, passing on tricks and tips to make them faster.

Colton, having taken first place last year, said he didn't care about making a fast car ... just a cool car. He had basketball games on the same Saturday as the derby workout (and Gray would have been too busy then to help anyway) so they worked on the car in the week afterward, barely finishing it up in time. For decor, a neighbor helped create custom cutouts (Gray thought they were totally awesome and is wondering about adding a Silhouette vinyl cutter to his gadget list).  There was already a #23 ... thus the extra little (1) there at the front (Colton's car was #123 on the official roster). 

Colton and his car.


Grayson and Keaton went over early to set up ... it was drizzling rain. 
It's been nice to have the covered trailer!

Colton came in 6th, and he was just fine with that.

Here's a highlight reel from the night. 


Thursday, January 7, 2016

Daddy Does Derbies

Gray does derbies ... everyone knows that, right? How many years has it been now? A lot! Grayson bought his track back with Landon was a cub scout. This past year was busy. My man ran 39 derbies! And while all the boys help out at one time or another, Keaton has been Grayson's main man. He really stepped up this year. Not only being willing to help, but able. Gray has told me how impressed he is at everything Keaton accomplishes. Maybe Keaton will run them on his own at some point?

Gray is always adding and updating his derby stuff. 
This year ... new tables. Black tables. 
They look pretty awesome, right?



Gray did put a limitation on travel for 2015, turning down derbies is Utah County, as it's just such a long drive. He still had plenty of business fairly close to home, and did some derbies in North Salt Lake, taking his trailer up to work with him. 

He just had his first derby of this year ... and three more scheduled for the last week in January. April is probably the busiest month. How many derbies will there be this year? We shall see ...

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Colton Takes 1st with a Tie

 It's that time of year again ... well, in the Blackham house, it's almost ALWAYS derby season (as Grayson owns a track and runs derbies all year round). But in April, it is even more true! Not only is it the derby for our pack, but Gray hosts a builder's workshop in the weeks before, opening up our garage and tools for anyone who wants to come and get a little help with their car construction. I was off to a Zumba class that morning and didn't grab pictures like I usually do. 



Grayson is generally too busy helping everyone else during that time to actually work with Colton, but that's okay. Colton got some one on one time with Daddy a little later on, although admittedly, they were still rushing to finish up the night before the derby!

Not sure where Colton got the idea for a TIE car, but that is what he wanted. So that is what they made. Pretty cool! And in the actual race, there weren't many ties ... it was beating everyone!

Mr. Fancy Tie was the car name. 





Here's some video clips of the night ...




Congrats to Colton!
1st place!

Friday, October 10, 2014

Trading Trailers

In pictures past, you may have noticed a couple trailers the Blackham's have owned. A folding camping trailer, that we used a LOT for a few years ... then not at all for more years. There was also a trailer for hauling things; Gray's derby track and other items as needed.

During derby days with bad weather, Grayson would comment on how much nicer it would be to have an enclosed trailer. One that would ward off the rain and snow. One that wouldn't have to be parked in the garage. 

Then, Grayson made a trade. He traded our two trailers, for the one pictured above. It reminded me a little of "The Great Brain" series, as Tom would trade items, no actually money passing hands. I think it was a good trade for both parties. We had thought about selling the camping trailer, but our neighbor had a similar one and had posted it for sale and had nary a nibble. This was so much easier than trying to sell both of them, although monetarily, the other party probably got a bit of a better deal. We are happy with the new trailer ... happy to have the camping trailer gone (and open up that space on the side of the house). 

And Gray is especially happy as he heads out to derbies on a rainy or snowy day!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Derby ... Done

It's that time of year ... Derby Time!

It's actually Derby Time almost every month of the year for Grayson, as he runs various derbies all over the area all throughout the year. But April and May, those are the busy months. Not only does he do several derbies for other scout groups, but he also runs the one for OUR scout group. And that entails more than just the day of the derby. 

A couple weeks before the derby, Grayson opens the garage, welcoming fathers and sons to come work on their cars. They can use the tools and techniques they might not have access to otherwise. Here's a couple snapshots from the workshop ...


... and of course Daddy had to help Colton and Cooper make their cars too!

Then it was the day of the derby ... I made a muvee
(see just the highlights, the night reduced to about three minutes)


And another photo collage ...


Another derby down!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Derby Workshop

 While Pinewood derbies can be run at any time during the year, April and May tend to be "derby season."  Grayson has been very busy with multiple derbies each week. I addition to those, as the derby for OUR ward was coming up, he also hosted a Derby Workshop in our garage (as he has done for years now). He provides the tools, and the expertise, to help anyone along. 

Saturday morning Gray got everything set up. 
Tables and Tools. Primer and Paint. 
Step-by-Step instructions ... see them taped to the freezer.


 Cut out the car body

Drill holes and add weight.
Bondo to cover and keep it in.


Sand Smooth.

Ironically, OUR scout (Cooper) has not been wanting to go to scouts lately. I thought for sure he'd still want to participate in the derby. He did NOT. He did not even want to discuss building a car. We decided not to push him.  So when derby time came ... there wasn't a Blackham boy in the race :(

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Lego Derby

I mentioned in a previous post, that Grayson had purchased some Lego/Derby wheels. They are basically just a lego block base, with holes drilled into the sides to attach regular pinewood derby wheels with small axles. GREAT idea! Although we have a TON of Legos, I didn't want to totally raid the kids stash (Gray had no trouble raiding the kids stash) so I hopped online and picked up some used bricks on Ebay. Gray picked up some small adhesive weights (to make the cars heavier, thus faster, or at least able to finish) and set up our first (but I'm sure not last) Lego Derby with the youth of our ward. 

We didn't use a couple sections of the track, making it just a bit shorter than for a traditional derby. The kids were given the go ahead, and they made their cars using the Lego bricks. Then it was time to race. With Grayson's setup, the cars all have names. As family history is the subject of focus for the youth this year, the kids were encouraged to give the cars names of an ancestor. So instead of the usual derby car names (the rocketeer, silver speedster, flash, turbo master) we had names like Aunt Ruby, OldGranny, Helga and even ThomasJefferson. 

During Pinewood Derby races, Grayson is always telling the boys to be really careful with their cars. A drop can put a car completely out of commission. Lego cars are even MORE fragile. Many of them would break as they went down the track, or flip as they hit the finish. At least they are more easily put back together than traditional wood derby cars.

Cooper wasn't interested in the derby (what?) but Colton and I headed over to the church to check it out, and of course Colton participated with the rest of the youth. I grabbed some video and made a muvee~


The Lego Derby is a great alternative to a regular derby. There is less cost (well, OUR initial cost wasn't less, but now each derby can be run for no additional output, no purchasing of car kits) and no real prep time or tools needed. It's fast and easy and fun. It would be great for a birthday party or school class activity. We'd been to a similar function (Lego Racers) at the local library and a small, simple track may be something we'll look into too.

Lego Derby ... a success.



Friday, December 28, 2012

3 Dozen Derbies

If you have a boy in Cub Scouts, chances are pretty good you'll be participating in a Pinewood Derby at some point. Grayson has FIVE boys, with the perfect age spread, so that he doesn't NOT have a boy in cub scouts for 16-17 years!  But apparently, that didn't seem like enough. Grayson has his own derby track set-up, and this past year, he ran THREE DOZEN DERBIES! That's right, 36 ... four more than last year.  The boys enjoy going and helping ... at least they enjoy getting PAID for helping. With Landon driving, maybe he can start taking over some of these derbies, while it's a fun hobby and service for Grayson, it could actually be a money maker for a 17-year old!

Blackham Run Derbies in 2012

Jan 24, 26, 31
Feb 23, 28
March 1, 14, 20, 22, 27
April 5, 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 26
May 1, 3, 17, 23, 24, 29
June 5
August 14, 21
Sept 15, 18, 25, 27
Oct 4, 18, 23
Nov 9, 13, 15

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Another Derby Down


The Jordan Oaks 1st Ward Pinewood Derby was last night. This was Cooper's first official derby. Cooper did get into the car making, anxious for Daddy to get home from work so they could cut and sand and paint. Grayson actually hosted a couple derby workshops for all the boys who would be competing, but he was usually so busy helping everyone else during those times, that Cooper waited until he had his dad all to himself.

Here's Cooper with his completed car.
He's a Jazz fan!

The night before the derby, Cooper had a little meltdown. He said he didn't want to go to the derby, that it just takes too long. He didn't put up too much resistance the next night when it was time to go, and after his first race ... he was COMPLETELY into it. I'm sure the fact that he was winning every race didn't hurt.

Of course I put together a little Muvee 
with the pictures and video from the race ...

Congrats Cooper!

Just so you know ... Grayson really does NOT like having his son be an uncontested winner at our own derby *Ü* He said they really didn't put much work into the wheels ... sometimes a fast car is a fluke!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Creative Cars

The SmurfBoard Pinewood Derby Car

That's MY derby "car". Of course I didn't really make it myself, but the idea (and the smurf) was ALL mine. I loved how it turned out. He may not be the fastest car, but I do think he's one of the cutest!  Hubby always ends up making multiple cars every almost year. One of his other really cute creations was a car for one of the little boys for a family derby ... a Spongebob Boat. 

Spongebob Pinewood Derby Car .... errr, boat


One derby we went to actually REQUIRED the boys to make "non-car" cars. Apparently they switch off every other year. One year it's actually cars, the next year, the entries have to be anything BUT a "car". They had so many cute entries. I was so glad this was a derby I went to with camera in hand.


To see bigger images and even more creative cars, check out my online album. All the ones pictured here are cars that have actually participated in races we've run. Of course, on the Internet you'll find even MORE wonderfully creative ideas, I compiled a second album of clever cars I just had to keep on file (see them here). 

When I would accompany my husband on his derby runs, and I'd snap photos of ALL the cars competing in the races. We'd show all the pictures in a slideshow at each derby. I haven't really added to it in a while (life got busy and I stopped going to the races). In the past two years, I've only gotten the cars from our own personal pack. But as I have photographed so many cars, I thought I'd share them too (album here). See how they compare to the ones YOU might be racing against.

I wonder if we'll be making any creative cars this year ... 
I do have a couple in mind *Ü*


Friday, December 30, 2011

Done Derbies in 2011


Gray did 32 derbies this past year! March/April are usually the busiest months (and that is when OUR derby is too, which makes it even more crazy as Grayson needs to help his own boys build cars). January often has a car theme, which also makes it a popular month. Not sure why October was in such demand!

Jan 6, 18, 25, 27
March 3, 8, 22, 26, 29
April 7, 13, 14, 19, 26
May 24, 26, 31
June 14, 21, 28
August 23
Sept 20, 22, 28
Oct 4, 6, 12, 19, 26, 28
Nov 17
Dec 8


... he already has seven derbies on deck for 2012 ...

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Derby Day!

Derby day is here! This was Keaton's last official derby (but we'll still have a scout for the next one, as Cooper will turn eight later in the year). Last year Keaton took third ... and he took third again this year! Congrats to Kade for a first place finish! We all went over to watch ... well, Landon went to try is car out, but left before the actual racing started (maybe he was just mad because Callahan's car beat his!)

With dwindling numbers (our ward only had six participants), the derby committee chose to combine with two other wards in the stake, which is a great idea. Not only can you save work and expense, but the race is actually better with more participants. There were 17 this year.

In addition to the regular race, another fun tradition Grayson picked up during his derbies elsewhere, was a BEAT THE BISHOP race. The Bishop made a car (a MiniCooper), then raced it against the boys. If you beat the Bishop, you won a prize. This was open to everyone (not just the scouts), so Cooper happily raced and WON ... Colton's car did NOT win (his impatience to get the wheels on means it didn't get all the special "speed" tricks and treatment, and it showed). Colton was sad ... but luckily he got a ring pop prize anyway.

After the beat the Bishop and fun races, it was time to insert THE LOOP ... not all cars make it through the loop, but many did. It was a fun end to a fun night. Here's the video highlights ...

Jordan Oaks Pinewood Derby
April 19, 2011


Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Ready for the Races


The weeks of planning, cutting, sanding, filling, painting and finishing cars are finally done! The cars are complete and ready to race. Landon lined up ALL his cars from the past eight years ... the first three were his cubscout cars (all of them took first place!) All the other cars are ones he's made over the years just for fun ...

Landon and his cool car he made completely on his own ...

Callahan's car ...
notice the matching colors on the wheels (all the boys did this)

Colton LOVES his car!

Cooper's Car
The official weigh-in was on Saturday, and the scouts had to turn their cars in, so I didn't get pictures of Cooper and Keaton with their cars, but Cooper's is pictured above, and Keaton"s car is shown below.

Keaton's Car


And we can't forget DADDY's car ... errr, truck.
Here he is loaded and ready to go ...
We're READY to RACE!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Creating Cars

The Pinewood Derby is coming up ... during the weeks before, the Blackham garage is very busy! While there is only ONE actual cub scout in the family at the moment (that would be Keaton), very often ALL the kids want a car. Not only does Grayson help our boys, but actually holds workshops, sharing his tools and talent with anyone who asks.

Colton was SO excited to build his car. He came in and told me the steps ... "we cut the wood, make holes and put stuff in, then rub paper" ... he kept asking Grayson if he had "rubbed" (sanded) enough, and Daddy kept telling him he needed to do just a little more. Colton was SO excited to get his car painted, but then Daddy came across him looking oh so sad ... why? He wanted WHEELS. It wasn't quite dry, so there are more than a few fingerprints in the paint, but Colton was happy. Then Daddy had a derby, and Colton went with him. After the official race, he got to participate in the fun races ... here's a little video Daddy took (Colton does NOT like the messy graphite on his fingers ...)


Keaton and Cooper's cars are pictured below, sanded and primed. Those hangers? They USED to be MINE ... cute candles hung from them, before Grayson took them over ...


Landon and Callahan made cars too ... Landon created his completely on his own ... I'll share his in another post, as well as the kids completed cars and of course the derby itself! We're a derby family!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Lego Racers

I noticed a fun looking activity at the local library ... a Lego Racing party! My boys love Legos, and they love racing cars, so it seemed like a good match. I took the two youngest boys (right after Colton's soccer game, thus his athletic attire). There were plenty of Legos to make cars, then the kids could race them down the double ramp.

It was fairly crowded (in the picture above, you may see our neighbors the Llewellyn's too!), but there were enough pieces to keep everyone busy making multiple car creations, and the ramp was large enough that many children could race at the same time. While it worked fine for this large group, I also think it would be fun on a smaller scale, where you could really "race" the cars and compare the creativity of the completed cars. I know the setup is available for birthday parties or activities, you can check out the ReadyRaceParty website for more info.

I got a few photos and videos and made a quick little muvee so you can actually catch the cars in action *Ü*


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Done Derbies

Gray is done with derbies for 2010 ... I used to try to make it to several each year, but it's getting less frequent for me to go as there are always things to do at home. Gray always takes at least one son to help out though. Sometimes it's a struggle to get one to go, other times they are fighting over the opportunity (and the cash payment that comes at the end of the night). Hopefully in the future this could be a good little side-job for the boys. Here's a list of the dates Gray did derbies this past year ...

Jan 26
Jan 27
Jan 28
Feb 23
Feb 27
March 16
March 23
March 30
April 20
April 22
April 27
April 28
April 29
May 11
May 20
May 25
May 27
June 17
June 22
Aug 7
Aug 21
Sept 21
Sept 22
Sept 30
Oct 20
Oct 27

He's already booking for 2011 ...

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Derby Dude

Grayson is a derby dude. Of course he runs the pinewood derby each year for our own pack (in addition to offering workshops and any car help as needed), but he also is available upon request to run other derbies as well. Here's a great video forwarded to us from one of his recent runs ...

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Derby Daze

It's that time of year ... Derby Time! For the past several years, Grayson has run the derby for our scout pack. It's usually in May, but as May has generally been pretty busy, Gray asked if it could be moved to April this year. Of course, turns out April is pretty crazy. In addition to our derby, he has FOUR more before the month is out. Gray also hosted a workshop, giving the boys and their dads access to tools and expertise. Our scouting troop has thinned out considerably though, only six boys in cubs, and only five participating in this year's derby. But it went well and was a lot of fun ... here's video proof...


Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Science Fair

As you know, we are a pinewood derby family, and while all the boys love it, Callahan has always shown the most interest. So it made perfect sense choose a derby theme when it came to his science fair project. The goal of a derby is to finish fastest ... how can you do that? Decrease FRICTION, increase speed ... now there are oodles of ways to reduce friction in your car... he chose to focus on using graphite to lubricate the wheels and axles. After running the experiment, the conclusion was that lubricating your wheels/axles makes a BIG difference and should definitely be done if you want a chance at winning the race!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Doing the Derby

We had two boys in the derby this year. It was Keaton's first year, and Callahan's last year. Neither placed in the top four, but I think they still had fun.


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