Blaster Car Madness

I'm sure you have all heard of a Pinewood Derby, and many of you have probably been involved with one in some way or another. Maybe you have made your own car? Perhaps you helped a boy make his? Maybe you just attended to watch the action and see the cars race across the finish line? I have been to one. This is not surprising from the lack of males in my family (extended and otherwise). No brothers to go watch, no sons to coach. Tyler has been to his fair share naturally, and the one I attended was hosted by Tyler when he was the Cub Master.

He is currently the Scout Master which means his boys are older and more mature. Well...older at least. They are ready for bigger and better cars. Let's introduce the BLASTCAR. It's Pinewood Derby with rockets! You still get a block of wood to fashion into a car, but there is a hole in the back to insert a CO2 cartridge. There is a device (which must be bought) that will puncture the small canisters simultaneously, releasing the pressurized gas and propelling (or blasting!) the cars forward. Pretty nifty huh?

Let's back up to crazy day. Poor Tyler. He had a Blast Car activity to get ready and his entire day was interspersed with concerts. (Yes, we are back in December.) He would be at an event and then immediately gone again to wherever Scout Masters go to buy supplies or cry themselves into a corner. After Robyn's second concert of the evening (both of which Tyler attended) I was taking kids home and Tyler texted and asked if I would like to come watch. Yes please. It was already a bit late, so I dropped off kids who needed to hit the hay or do more homework. I ended up with Daisy and Ivory as my dates to this activity. Ivory even stepped in as my temp photographer. (She still needs a little training.)

The boys begin with a pretty good sized block to whittle down. Here are some of the finished products. I'm impressed.

Here are two cars ready to go. Tyler pulls the handle and they go shooting forward. This is the fun part. There is a bit of setup each time two cars compete, so it isn't very fast, but the end result is worth it.

Oh yes, my photographersbombers. Kelsie, Lily, and Ives.

Where was I, you ask? I was playing Vanna and building a bracket and keeping it in order. I'm sure one of the men could have done it, but this isn't my first bracket considering all the Crack Offs I've done. (I still couldn't design one myself. Thank goodness for buildyourbrackets.com)

Our winner was Mac. His car aced all the others. You could tell from the beginning he was going to win. Maybe it was because his car was much lighter? He was so happy to get the really weird trophy the Young Men Leader's made.

I'm sure this won't be the last Blaster Car competition we go to. Good job Tyler. You got it all put together and all the boys had a fantastic time. You the man!