2014 AWANA Grand Prix

Over the last few weeks we have been in the race car mode with both Everett and Ethan entering a car in our local church Awana Grand Prix, pinewood derby car races.  Last year was our first year doing it, so this year we had a little more insight on what would be required of the cars and how things would go.

Ethan decided he wanted his car to look like a shark and Everett wanted his to look like Lightning McQueen.  The shark seemed more intimidating, as we had no idea how we were going to make the body round and I didn't have any confidence that it would actually "look" like a shark when we were done, but we looked at a lot of photos online, discussed our game plan as a family, and hoped for the best.

Last weekend, Derrick took the boys to a workshop at the church to do the bulk of the cutting for the body of the cars.  Everett's was pretty straight forward, as it was a race car, but Derrick was so unsure of his job at cutting the shark, that he purchased an additional block of wood just in case it turned out not to work.  He shaved off a few more inches with the Dremel tool when he got home and Ethan sanded it smooth before we started paining.

Ethan wanted the car to look as close to a shark as possible, so we Googled some pictures online, studied them, planning out how the shark would look and got a pretty good game plan.  Using oven baked clay from Sculpey, we added fins to the top and then secured them with tacky glue.  We coated the whole thing with a few generous coats of gray paint.

Asking for advice from Ethan as I painted the details, we decided on a white belly and added a realistic mouth and face.  When it was all done, we were pretty happy with how it looked.  It really came together nicely.

The Shark, ready for paint 

Everett's car was a bit more straight forward, and he was eager to get painting.  He covered the whole car in a red gloss paint and then left the details to me.  It didn't even occur to me to search out rub-on-decals for the flames and such, so I ended up painting them by hand from looking at photos online and drawing the initial images on parchment paper to get a carbon copy for the opposite side when needed.  It was a long process, and I am not really proud that it took me around 5 hours to get the whole thing done, but the smile on his face when he saw it all done make the time worth it!

Derrick had the daunting task of adding the wheels, adding weight, making sure the car rolled properly and checking all the mechanics for good racing.  "This is as good as it gets." was his statement after messing around with the wheels and trying to get things just right for quite a few hours one night. During the addition of wheels to Ethan's car, he fractured two of the pieces of wood, there were a few tears when Ethan watched his prized car break, but it was nothing a little glue and more paint couldn't fix.

Ethan, helping Derrick add the wheels to Everett's car.

So, with all the preparation, today was the big race day!  The kids were both so excited to show off their cars and see how they would do during the race.  The competition was pretty tough, but we did end up coming home with a few trophies, making the day a success!

Although both cars did pretty good during the individual heats, they didn't place for speed, but Everett's friend's puppy police car placed and that made him happy.  The second part of the competition was the design area.  Ethan took home 1st place for his age group and Everett took home 2nd for his!  It was a fun day!

Everett, entering the race with his Lightning McQueen Race Car

Ethan, entering the race with his Shark Race Car

Awana Sparks line-up of derby cars.

The 100 dollar bill car received 2nd place in the design category.  The yellow and black car won 1st place in speed.

The rainbow pony car received 3rd place in the design category. 

The pink truck received 2nd place for speed.

Before the races, the drivers signed autographs for the crowd.

Everett did a great job writing his name over and over!

Right before racing the cars, the kids were introduced one by one.  They ran across the stage and waved to the fans. 

Line up of cars for Everett's age group (Awana Cubbies)

#24 received 1st place in speed.

The white race car received 1st place in design, and the police car received 2nd place in speed.