[LWJ]

Yes. Most of you got it. Weight in the back. Three wheels if allowed. Our rules did not allow lengthened wheelbases but that is good if allowed. We could do graphite but no liquid lubes. No springs or suspension allowed but my design was ok'ed by the ref in advance as it uses the block of wood itself to suspend the car.

Agreed. The idea is to have the kids build the car. My boy did that. I let him do the activities that did not threaten to remove his fingers. I did the cutting.

As to JYL's question of how I did the suspension. I found a design on the web and copied it. Some very thin and vunerable pieces of wood. I suspect a drop would have shattered the whole thing. The suspension uses two long U shaped legs on the back wheels and the front (it rides on one wheel) is an independent piece. It would have worked better had I had the guts to thin stuff out even more.

All good fun. You should have seen the kid with the fast car. He was absolutely biting his nails at the end. Pretty cool.