...colored by a black sharpie and with the wheels pushed in. No sanding, no shaping, no added weights. I'm not sure if his parents forgot, or if they thought he was really supposed to do the entire thing by himself.

That year his older sister got married. When he came the next year, his new brother-in-law came with. He had the fanciest, shiniest car at the event - which his BiL held for him and carefully lubricated with graphite between each race, not letting him touch it until it was declared the winner.

In all honesty - I think he enjoyed that second experience better than having a block of wood with wheels and colored with a black marker that was always half a track length behind the other cars.