Steve Garrett's day at the Pinewood Derby

OSKALOOSA April 08, 2008 11:09 am

— Steve Garrett, of Oskaloosa, has always liked racing with cars. He used to work on race cars, but now he builds Pinewood Derby cars and races those.
Garrett had three sleek Pinewood Derby cars ready to race Saturday morning at Penn Central Mall for the Seventh-annual Pinewood Derby Race.
Garrett has been making Pinewood Derby cars for four years.
“I’ve seen them racing here .... and I like working with my hands. I was looking for a new hobby,” he said.
There are different classes of Pinewood Derby cars. There’s a 5 ounce model, an 8 ounce car, heavy weights — more than 8 ounces — and “Outlaws,” an 8 ounce car that you can modify with anything you want. Pinewood Derby cars are 7 inches long and about 2 3/4 inches wide.
“I run 5 ounces and an 8 ounce Outlaw and heavy weight cars,” he said.
Garrett said it takes two weeks for him to build a car. It takes a lot of cutting and sanding to transform a block of wood into a viable car.
“You either build for show or build for go,” he said. “It’s hard to do both.”
Since Garrett has a need for speed, he builds for go.
“I build for speed,” he said.
Although he is a speedster, Garrett said he is planning on building a show car for next year’s derby.
People who build cars for show add a lot of trinkets to their cars.
“Once you add for show, you lose your speed,” he said.
The Hawkeye Cadet Council provided the race track for the derby Saturday morning. Garrett said Outlaws run at about 2.6 seconds on the track.
“It comes down to thousandths of a second,” he said.
As with many hobbies, building Pinewood Derby cars can be expensive. Enthusiasts can spend a pile of money on tools, parts, accessories and research materials.
“My Outlaw is $130,” Garrett said.
That’s a lot considering a typical Pinewood Derby car kit costs about $5.
“It’s whatever you buy after” that costs a lot of money, he said.
Builders use tungsten weights to stabilize their cars. It’s hard, dense and doesn’t move around. Also, unlike lead, tungsten is not toxic.
“The weight costs a lot,” he said. “You can buy expensive bearings,” he added.
A set of thin wheels can cost $40, he said.
Garrett also has a lot of tools at his disposal in his workshop.
He has a band saw, a belt sander, a drill press and numerous pine car hand tools.
“I’ve got probably about $200 of hand tools,” he said.
Garrett can get his Pinewood Derby car supplies either at hobby stores or on-line.
When he paints his cars, Garrett usees spray cans.
“Airbrushes are nice,” he added.
When he paints, Garrett uses acrylic paints.
First, he applies a primer coat, then he applies two to three coats of acrylic paints and then applies a clear coat over the paint.
Garrett also designs his own racing decals and goes to Jeff Mitrisin, who brings his decal designs to life.
But remember: “Everything you do to the car adds weight,” he said.
When Pine Wood Derby racers build for speed, many of the same considerations used on real race cars are used for derby cars.
“The cars are balanced just like real race cars,” Garrett said. “They’ve got to run straight,” so wheel alignment is important. Bent axles take away speed, he added.
“Everything has to be perfect for speed. It can’t have any flaws,” he said.
It takes hours and days of planning to properly engineer a car, Garrett said.
“You eat it, breathe it, sleep it for a couple of weeks,” he said. Garrett has lots of reference books, including a $100 Pinewood Derby car book, in his collection.
“My Outlaw is the biggest challenge. It takes a lot of effort to get that Outlaw to work,” he said. Making the axles and cutting the wood is a challenge. When you drill holes, they have to be straight, he said.
Racing Pinewood Derby cars also requires a lot of maintenance. The track can be hard on derby cars, especially ones with really thin wheels. Also, cars can jump the track and crash into other cars, Garrett said.
“I’ve never wrecked a car, and I’ve got rear-ended at Knoxville,” he said.
Garrett has a plethora of cars he’s built over the past four years.
“I’ve got 33 cars total over the four years,” he said. “A lot of those are test cars.
“It takes a long time to figure things out,” he added.
Garrett said he’s always on the lookout for places to race.
He races at Penn Central Mall and at Assembly of God Church in Oskaloosa. Garrett has raced in Houston, Texas, and the competition there is intense. He said he races against engineers, even a NASA engineer. Also, he has raced in Knoxville and he plans to race at Cutty’s Campground in West Des Moines this year. Cutty’s Campground has a 20-race schedule that begins Memorial Day weekend and runs every Sunday afterwards.
Garrett has been successful in his racing. He has many first- and second-place trophies.
At Saturday’s derby, Garrett was very successful. He earned first place in the 5 ounce extended-wheel base category as well as first place in the heavy weight division and first place in the Outlaw division.
“I cleaned up,” he said.
The best part of Pinewood Derby racing is “the bragging rights” when you win, Garrett said.
However, when you’re on top, other racers are gunning for you. In Garrett’s case, sixth-grader Trevor Maybee is his biggest competitor.
“A little kid is my biggest threat,” he said. Trevor is the son of Garrett’s racing buddy, Allen Maybee. Garrett said that Trevor keeps him on his toes and drives him to improve his cars each year.
“My competition wants to know how I did it. They’re after me,” he chuckled.
Herald Editor Duane Nollen can be reached by email at oskynews@oskyherald.com

Photos

The Oskaloosa Herald