Awana Grand Prix 2008

Wednesday night was the big race. It was exciting. I’m not sure how many participated, but I’m guessing there were about 20 cars. I should mention too that were were very impressed with the sophistication of the race. All the cars have to weigh-in (requirement is under 5 oz.). The track is a 40 foot aluminum track with 4 lanes and the finish and start are electronic. All lane assignments and results were all on a laptop which was projected up on the big-screen in the gym for everyone to see. All they had to do was feed in each kids name and car and the computer determined which cars raced when and in which lane until everyone was done. It also kept the running tally of everyone’s race times and speed. Like I said, very sophisticated.

The races were 4 cars in a heat. The track has 4 lanes and each car raced once in each lane, so 4 runs each. Owen started the night off in the first heat. He ran 3 heats in a row and won all three. He later raced his 4th heat and won that one too. He was *so* excited! Jumping up and down and cheering for his car. He looked at me and said, “I’m a good racer, ain’t I Mom?” He was so proud! What was even more entertaining was watching the Dad’s. They had a lot invested in this race too. At one point the director asked all the kids to move away from the track and to find a chair to sit in and then he also said, “And all the Dad’s, please move away from the cars.”

Riley raced a few heats after Owen and I think he won 2 of his 4 heats. He was excited too and they were great about cheering for each other too. Abby, Tyler, Riley and Owen were all exchanging high-five’s and cheering for each other’s cars too. After everyone had raced 4 times, they took the top 4 cars times and did one final series of 4 heats, once in each lane for the final 4. Owen, Tyler and Abby all made the final 4 along with another little girl, Hannah. Owen did well in the first 3 heats, placing 2nd or 3rd in each one. Then in the final heat, his car jumped the track and finished a full 1.5 seconds behind everybody else which threw him out of the running for the top 3 trophy spots. He was disappointed, and we all think robbed, but what can you do? They wouldn’t run the heat over again because his car crossed the finish line even though it was off the track. Tyler won 1st place and Abby 2nd place so we were excited for them.

I called a trophy shop today and ordered a 3rd place trophy for Owen. Since we really think he should have won and he was so sad and disappointed, I think this’ll make everything right in his mind. We’ll just tell him that he won a trophy after all, he’ll be so excited. If he had lost fair and square, I wouldn’t have done this since I know there is a lesson learned in loosing as well as winning. But given the circumstances, we though this was a good idea and so Owen will have a trophy to show off after all.

Awana Grand Prix 2009, watch out. We learned a few secrets this year and our cars will be even faster next year!