Last night was the big race. The culmination of all our hard work, designing, carving, sanding, and painting Benjamin’s entry in Pack 178’s Pinewood Derby came to fruition. He worked hard on his reproduction of the 1940 Ford pickup.

The whole family loaded up in the Mommy-Van and we headed to church (where our pack meets) for a pizza dinner and the race.

There were 8 cars entered in the race (we have a rather small pack). Plus, a couple of siblings made a car for fun.

With so few entrants, each car got to race multiple times in our triple elimination race.

We all had a good time watching the boys get excited over their cars.

In the end, Benjamin’s truck placed in the middle of pack. But, he did win the Best Looking Award.

Here’s this year’s truck and last year’s Jeep (which placed 2nd in the best looking category).

One of the highlights for Benjamin was getting to race his truck against a car that I had made when I was a Bear Scout some 30+ years ago. (It’s amazing what a mother will hang on to!)

The same basic kit was used way back then so my car still fit on the track. The nails used as axles were rusty and one of the wheels barely turned, but that didn’t matter to Benjamin. He wanted to take on his old man.

Of course he beat me by 20 or more car lengths; I was just happy to see my car cross the finish line. I told Benjamin to enjoy it now because I’m going to save his car for the next 35 years and laugh when his son’s car zooms past his truck on the track.

He asked why I didn’t paint mine. I told him Olsen’s Mercantile was out of paint back then. He just rolled his eyes.