Derby update

Samuel with his cool car and award from Friday night.

Saturday was a very fun day. We got to the Derby site and found out that the wheels, which were super glued in place, were NOT regulation! (Rules vary from place to place and on a web site Buddy read you could round the wheels a bit to reduce friction. I also missed in the email about NOT allowing rounded wheels, not knowing what the boys had done to prep the car.) 2 options- race and win in the afternoon, but don't qualify to race in the city-wide race, OR pull out the wheels and put new ones in that were not polished and could be duds. After much angst on Buddy's part, he pulled out the wheels, put the new in and off to the races.

Samuel beat everyone in his group hands down, which qualified him to race in the city races. Dad and mom had watched the 1st races and came over afterward for pie and some much needed moral support as they figured out what could be done to make the car as fast as possible and where they could put another 1/10 ounce weight.

Last night we piled in and went to the city wide race. My brother, Mark even showed up for a bit. Each car raced once on each of the 3 tracks, the times averaged and a winner announced at the end. Samuel won each of the three times down the track. However, there were some cars 1/10 of a second faster than his. The end result was that of over 50 cars, Samuel placed 11th.

Remember that prayer? God answered it. He helped Samuel win both in his pack and at the city-wide preliminaries. He did really well, too, considering the changes and challenges they faced. So, he got to be one of the happy losers. He was bummed with his placing since the trophies were HUGE, but we had him pray and thank God anyway for all the help He gave. I think it was a great lesson.

Caleb thoroughly enjoyed the day races, but stayed with a babysitter for the night race.