Officially it was a "Cheaters" Pinewood Derby - with all kinds of clever designs. Within the derby itself, we had several different categories. One for electric motors, for example, or for compressed air. One for mechanical assist. And then an "unlimited" - which really meant the fastest overall. They actually did have a "standard" division too - for those who wanted to try their hand at keeping within the BSA derby rules.

It was a riot seeing some of the creativity that guys came up with.

There were a couple of electricians that had electric motors - which were awesome. One guy had a big sale on his and used an electric leaf blower to send it down the track. One guy attached his to a fishing pole. Initially he tried to reel it in super fast, but noticed after the first race it wasn't all that quick, so he started just whipping the pole towards the finish line and sending the car down the track that way. There was also a stomp rocket - hollowed out car that a 1/2 inch PVC pipe could fit in. PVC pipe was attached to a hose that went down to an empty 2 liter bottle. The guy would stomp the bottle and send the car flying down the track.

The fastest car - by FAR - was an idea that a couple of priests came up with (the race was sponsored by the Elders - but the entire ward was invited to participate) The attached a bunch of rubber bands in sequence, then attached their car on one end with an eye bolt and a cinder block to the other end - which sat at the end of the track (they used a LOT of rubber bands). When the starter said "go", their car literally flew to the finish line.

Of course, like all competitions this one was not without some controversy. Chief among said controversy was a discussion as to whether or not the car needs to actually remain on (or be touching, even) the track for the entirety of the race.

Seriously - so much fun.