[Andy Friar]

I helped my stepdaughter do pinewood derby when she was 6. We followed the rules to a T and I did the tricks I found online, with some success. We would have been better setup for a downhill oval race with the screwed up stagger I put in it, but I digress. She is very artistic and painted it all up and it had more glitter and sparkles on it that a Hess car! (j/k as those guys car are super cool looking!) We had to weigh in at registration and then wait our turns to race while watching the other races. The Mom next to us was dismantling her kids car and stuffed a ton of lead into it, then put back together like it didn't happen. My little Ruby looked at me, and said, "That lady is cheating." Made for a good teaching moment that some people don't follow the rules and you can't do anything about it. She was happy with her car and it finished mid pack I think. She got a medal for an appearance category and a participation medal, we had a fun day, and one medal hangs by computer as a good memory.