RA Races-2009

It's that time again!!
RA Race night at Agricola Baptist.
The trophies are ready to go to their rightful owners.

The track is in tip top shape.



The racers are putting wheels on and making last minute adjustments. Here is Mr. H putting the wheels on his golden beauty before the race. Notice he brought his box of tools. (Beside him is a CERTAIN nameless racer.)


The cars are all lined up and ready for inspection. (There are CERTAIN PEOPLE who have a flagrant disregard for the rules, but they shall remain nameless!) Mr. H's car is the golden arrow to the right side of the white car with eyes.

Some cars look like they have corporate sponsorship.

This slick red one is gorgeous, but the racer learned that the weight of all that beautiful coverage carries a price when it comes to speed.

The black car with lightening bolts on the right side of this tray was one of the coolest cars at the track. It was built by a gentleman whose name I don't know for Webb Smith to race. Webb is the young man seated under the maroon MSU blanket.

I can't believe that I captured an actual launch with my little camera. The cars are powered by CO2 cartridges and are held on the track by a string that runs through 2 eyes on the underside of the cars. The launch is initiated by computer and each heat is timed and clocked for speed. I believe there was one car that made the trip in under 1 second, but it didn't survive for a 2nd heat. The top speeds were over 40 mph.

Mr. H's Golden Arrow went head to head with Mark's (also golden) Brick, as Mr. H called it. Mark tried a different technique this year: hollowing out the inside of the car from underneath instead of shaping it from the outside. Rather a sneaky move, I thought, but it didn't quite work as well as he had hoped. Mr. H smoked him.

We had a pretty big crowd for the event. Hamburgers and hot dogs, along with drinks and cupcakes were appreciated by all.
I think this dog was waiting for someone to drop something.


All ages were represented in the crowd. Certain age groups were more interested in each other than the racing, though!



I wonder what these guys were talking about...


This bunch had the most fun of any group, I think. They were busy filling their drink bottles with lovely red dirt. I suspect there were several red bathtubs in Agricola last night!