It's Serious

There's the souvenirs



the cars waiting to race



the spectators--and notice the parking meters, so they don't stay too long



It's the Cal-Am 5th annual Pinewood Derby! (Cal-Am is the company that owns a number of RV resorts in the Phoenix area.)



Here's the racetrack with a jumbo-tron (sort of) in the background so you can see the race.



As with any sporting event in the country, we began with the national anthem. Since nearly half of the Arizona snowbirds are from Canada, that meant both "O Canada" and "The Star Spangled Banner."





Here is a closer look at the track, from the finish line. We had laser recording of lapst times. That is the black screen in the foreground.



And score boards with photos of each contestant and their times on each lap. There were 91 cars competing. So that each vehicle could race on each track to make sure one track didn't give anyone an advantage, there were innumerable laps. The score board even showed when someone made a new track record. By the way, there are as many women as men competing in the event and some of the women were doing very well.



This is the automatic starting gate.



And the finish line with
 times shown.



Cars are limited in length and weight, but they can be made in any shape and color. Here is one with a rabbit.



Three of our closest neighbors raced vehicles in the event. Here Nicki is working on her 5th-wheel RV. You can see a black truck on the table--her husband Gary's entry. Nicki's RV has amazing details, from the designs on the sides to bumper stickers, bikes hanging on the back, and TV antenna.



Here it is on the track today and you can even see the Santa she put on top--just like it was positioned before Christmas.



And here is the Tiki Bar car. It was made by another neighbor. He and his wife and two other nearby work campers staff the bar by the pool each afternoon. This car was definitely not aerodynamic.



We didn't stay around to see who won, though we do know none of our neighbors were doing well in the standings.

It just goes to show, cub scouts don't have anything on senior citizens.