There are three events which must happen: weigh-in, dry run day, race day. The supplies for the dry run and the race day should be the same, so we'll discuss those together.

Weigh In

At weigh in, you will need:

• Several long tables (the ones from the cafeteria work nicely). Note that the graphite used for lubrication stains everything (including the tables), so be careful, and have cleaners. The graphite should only be used outside, and attempt to use care when the cars come back inside.
• 2 or 3 scales with sufficient accuracy to measure 5 ounces.
• 2 or 3 power drills. If the drills need power cords, bring those as well as a plug strip. Bring at least a 5/16" bit.
• Fishing lead in 1/4" diameter. This lead fits easily into a 5/16" hole.
• Several pairs of diagonal cutters or other nippers to cut the lead.
• Hot melt glue gun with glue sticks, and a power cord. This is used to hold the lead in place.
• Graphite in squirt tubes. This must be applied outside.
• Paper towels and spray cleaner.
• About 6 to 8 people to man the various stations.
• Boxes to hold the checked in cars. We use boxes with 4 slots. These boxes are used during the race to have cars available, in the right order, for the gate keeper to load onto the track.
• Little round stickers. These stickers are attached to the top of the cars. A car number is written on each sticker. The first digit is the den number, and the second is a "child within the den" number. If you use the digit 0 to represent den 10, this allows up to 10 dens with ten kids.
• A manifest of all scouts in the pack. When cars are checked in, record the car number.
• It is never a bad idea to have duct tape, a couple of screwdrivers, and other basic tools around.

• Cars are not required to be five ounces, they simply cannot be over this weight.
• Graphite stains. Keep it under control or outside. (Have I mentioned that before...)
• The kids worked hard on the cars. Keep that in mind as you drill holes in their cars to put in weight.
• The first station that the kids line up at is the table furthest from the door which has the graphite station. The first station examines the car for legal items:
  • Is the car the right size? Too tall and it won't fit under the gates, too wide and it will interfere with other cars? See that it has clearance for the car guide on the track.
  • Does the car use the given wheels and axels? No washers are allowed in the cars either. Next the people at the first station weigh the car, and put enough lead with the car to bring it up to 5 ounces. Note that when the wood is drilled out to insert the lead, this will leave the car a little light. Adding hot melt glue brings it closer to a wash.
• The second station (a little closer to the graphite door) is used to attach the lead to the car. Use a 5/16" drill bit to make a place to put the lead. Use hot melt glue to secure the lead to the car.
• The third station (outside) is to add graphite to the wheels. Regardless of what you do, this will be a mess. If a child doesn't want graphite, mention what it is for, but don't force the issue. Attempt to make sure excess graphite won't fall off the car onto the gym floor when the boy goes back into the gym.
• The last station is car check in. Put a sticker on the car with the number assigned to the boy. Check his name off of the race manifest.

Dry run and race night

• The race track. This is typically stored in the closet at the end of the gym.
• The stands for the race track. These are probably stored in the area where pack flags and Mr. Spiffy are stored.
• The electronics package for the track. These are probably stored at somebodies house in the hope that they are not destroyed at the school.
• All of the supplies used for weigh in, although you probably only need one scale, one drill, and one hot melt glue gun.
• Duct tape.
• Black electricions tape.
• Yellow ribbon to mark the "keep back" zones. People will attempt to move right up to the track and lean on the track if you let them. This will mess up the track, so use chairs and ribbon to keep people back from the track. Allow room for a runner to bring the cars from the end of the track back to the start of the track.
• One of the cafeteria tables for placing the cars and awards.
• An MS-DOS computer.
• A printer with a serial connector instead of (or in addition to) a parallel port. An HP500 works nicely.
• Paper for the printer. Have about 25 pages available.
• About 35 feet of 25 pin cable to connect the race track to the computer. One end of the cable should have a male connector, the other end should have a female connector.
• About 15 feet of cable to connect the serial port of the computer to the printer.
• A plug strip for the computer and printer.
• An uninteruptable power supply for the computer. Yes, this is not strictly required. How many fates do you wish to tempt?
• An extension cord for the computer and printer, and another for the track electronics. The track electronics only needs a two prong cord, the computer may need a three prong extension cord. A 25' extension cord is fine for the track electronics, a 50' cord is needed for the computer.
• A manifest which shows whose cars are in which races. This must match the schedule in the computer.
• A working PA system. This may be a portable system, or simply a mike plugged into the gym's PA system. Know how it works.
• The board which holds the current race number. If the numbers are preprinted, they should go up high enough for the races on the manifest. This board helps keeps everybody on the race team as well as the audience keyed in on the current race.
• Poster paper with each child's name and four columns. Fill out the names before race time. Have posters for run offs and the final race as well.

• An announcer. This person will be talking all night long. It is convienient if they can add excitement to the race by saying whatever is appropriate. They must also fill the dead air time when the rest of the race team is busy getting cars loaded or dealing with minor emergencies.
• Someone to load cars into trays for launching. This person has a race manifest which says which cars are to go into which lanes for a given race. The board which indicates the current race number is important here. Note that for dens on less than eight cars, there will be a delay as cars are brought back from the bottom of the track.
• Someone to start the races. This person loads cars into the correct lanes, and when everybody is ready releases the cars. If there are any oddities about the running of the race, this person should signal the computer person and the announcer that something failed. This person should have a race manifest and double check that the cars they are loading corresponds to the current race number.
• Someone to run the computer. This person ensures that the computer is ready to monitor a race, that the race number of the current race number board is accurate, etc.
• Someone to log the results. This person (and their helper if available) transcribes information from the printer (which is a permanent log) or the screen to large poster paper per den. The only information which needs to be logged is the time for each car for each race. Once the den is complete, average times will be printed out which should go into a final column, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place should be identified.
• Someone to transfer the cars from the end of the track to the start. This person will be moving alot.
• A couple of gophers. These are always needed.

Last modified 27 May 2006
Questions or comments can be sent to Dave Regan.