Pinewood Derby Champion - 2 Years Running

Payton defended his Pinewood Derby Championship Thursday night at Pack 123 annual 'race down the hardwood.' Actually the track was metal and it had times down the 100th second -- I know this was not your Dad's.....or even our derby.
If you ask Payton his car this year (3.996 sec) was much faster than last years car (4.213 sec). The 200th of a second made all of the difference as he only finished 2nd in one of his races and that is because his car fell off the track (his explanation of this is that he was going too fast......).

Payton loves the Pinewood Derby and as is tradition in the Bingham home, Saturday (5/9/09) night before we started 'engineering' the car we received some inspiration by viewing the epic Hollywood film, 'Down and Derby'. If you have not seen this movie, both Payton and I would highly recommend it!

We spent the next 11 days cutting, sanding, weighing, baking (seriously, baking the car), buffing, sanding again (with NASA grade sandpaper), aligning, body-skinning, weighing again, marinating, brushing, spinning, praying (well not really, but kind of), inquiring on what our competition was up to (okay spying), and working together to process engineer the car. Once complete we felt great about the car, but more importantly we spent valuable time together having a great time!

He named his car, 'The Lightening Thief' because, as he explains it, he 'stole' the victory from everyone else. Here are some pictures of the event:

This is the winning race, The Lightening Thief is on the far right -- first place!

On the way out, several Dad's were having fun with Payton teasing him about the big win. One father in particular, who is in the bishopric, as he was leaving with his family said, "All right Bing-gum's, have a good night Bing-gum's."

Payton quickly responded with, "Don't you mean Bing-Winners!"

I corrected him immediately telling him that a comment like that was not good sportsmanship. Later April and I had a good laugh about his witty humor and quick response.



Payton has already started talking about next years car and the 'cash' he will need to win for a third straight year. Several in the ward, including the humble and the meek have opening approached both Payton and I stating that 'next year it will be on like donkey Kong.'

In order to build the car that he feels will rise up to these threats, he will be contacting family (& close friends) early in 2010 to stir up interest in sponsorship opportunities.....for a small fee. He tells me that for a $50.00 sponsorship, Bank of America's name, will be predominantly displayed on the rear of the car! WHAT, $50.00 for the back....I wonder what the front would cost? Sounds like a ponzi scheme to me!

Get ready for your call.......