immortal1 (linn)
+1y
Original article from before the race
John Marx: This time I have an excuse for going downhill
Jamie D'Aprile, left, and Linn Fahrenkrug are the designers behind John Marx's car for the celebrity pinewood derby at this year's auto show.
"This car's going to go downhill as fast as my grade-point average did my senior year of college."
That was Jamie D'Aprile, Chicago South Side native, godfather to my son, and a get-something-done-in-one-phone-call kinda guy. He was admiring "my" Pinewood Derby race car.
By day, Jamie's the president of Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation's asbestos-abatement division. By lunch and at night, he's a husband and father and a Pinewood Derby car-builder/supervisor/aerodynamic engineer -- a 42-year-old with a new toy.
My pal Jamie's as street-savvy as they come, which means if he can't make it happen, it's not meant to happen. Jamie's why Davenport's Linn Fahrenkrug is part of today's sermonette.
Jamie and Linn are going to make me a Pinewood Derby racing champion/folk hero.
Me, Pinewood Derby? Yes, I know I never got past the sign-up sheet for Cub Scouts, primarily because roughing it, to me, is a hotel with no room service. But I've always admired and respected Scouting, and I'm excited at becoming a Pinewood Derby champion.
My place in Pinewood Derby history will come Thursday at the Media Pinewood Derby at the Iowa-Illinois Auto Show. Media types and assorted car-dealer dudes are working feverishly to finish second to my car. The fun begins at 6 p.m. at Davenport's RiverCenter.
Enough about the also-rans. Back to my soon-to-be championship ride.
The problem with making a Pinewood Derby car -- and it was only a problem for a moment -- was that I know nothing about building one. The kit you get from the Cub Scouts, who've made Pinewood Derbys famous, features a box with a block of wood, wheels, axles, and some nails.
But any kind of building at all is rocket science to me. So I called Jamie, who hollered across the hall to Linn, Jamie's project manager at IITI, and I was set.
Have I mentioned Linn is a champion show-car builder, and there are no Scouting-type rules in the Media Pinewood Derby? Did I also mention Linn's got a an office and house full of big honkin' trophies for low-rider trucks he's built and shown? And did I mention IITI -- the company the two work for -- sponsors a successful local race car?
I promise to be gracious in victory.
With Linn doing the design work and Jamie the front-end labor, there's no way I can lose the race. And for good measure, there'll be an award for the best-looking car -- and with Linn on my team, they should send me the trophy now and save some time during the show.
In the next couple of days, I'll meet with my design and speed team and put the finishing touches on my soon-to-be-victorious car. That means I'll stop by the IITI complex in Davenport and pick up my car and the neat IITI racing shirt they're giving me.
After that, it's all about drafting my victory speech and sorting out what Pinewood Derby winning endorsements I should take.
Columnist John Marx can be reached at (309) 786-6441, ext. 291, or by e-mail at .
John Marx: This time I have an excuse for going downhill
Jamie D'Aprile, left, and Linn Fahrenkrug are the designers behind John Marx's car for the celebrity pinewood derby at this year's auto show.
"This car's going to go downhill as fast as my grade-point average did my senior year of college."
That was Jamie D'Aprile, Chicago South Side native, godfather to my son, and a get-something-done-in-one-phone-call kinda guy. He was admiring "my" Pinewood Derby race car.
By day, Jamie's the president of Iowa Illinois Taylor Insulation's asbestos-abatement division. By lunch and at night, he's a husband and father and a Pinewood Derby car-builder/supervisor/aerodynamic engineer -- a 42-year-old with a new toy.
My pal Jamie's as street-savvy as they come, which means if he can't make it happen, it's not meant to happen. Jamie's why Davenport's Linn Fahrenkrug is part of today's sermonette.
Jamie and Linn are going to make me a Pinewood Derby racing champion/folk hero.
Me, Pinewood Derby? Yes, I know I never got past the sign-up sheet for Cub Scouts, primarily because roughing it, to me, is a hotel with no room service. But I've always admired and respected Scouting, and I'm excited at becoming a Pinewood Derby champion.
My place in Pinewood Derby history will come Thursday at the Media Pinewood Derby at the Iowa-Illinois Auto Show. Media types and assorted car-dealer dudes are working feverishly to finish second to my car. The fun begins at 6 p.m. at Davenport's RiverCenter.
Enough about the also-rans. Back to my soon-to-be championship ride.
The problem with making a Pinewood Derby car -- and it was only a problem for a moment -- was that I know nothing about building one. The kit you get from the Cub Scouts, who've made Pinewood Derbys famous, features a box with a block of wood, wheels, axles, and some nails.
But any kind of building at all is rocket science to me. So I called Jamie, who hollered across the hall to Linn, Jamie's project manager at IITI, and I was set.
Have I mentioned Linn is a champion show-car builder, and there are no Scouting-type rules in the Media Pinewood Derby? Did I also mention Linn's got a an office and house full of big honkin' trophies for low-rider trucks he's built and shown? And did I mention IITI -- the company the two work for -- sponsors a successful local race car?
I promise to be gracious in victory.
With Linn doing the design work and Jamie the front-end labor, there's no way I can lose the race. And for good measure, there'll be an award for the best-looking car -- and with Linn on my team, they should send me the trophy now and save some time during the show.
In the next couple of days, I'll meet with my design and speed team and put the finishing touches on my soon-to-be-victorious car. That means I'll stop by the IITI complex in Davenport and pick up my car and the neat IITI racing shirt they're giving me.
After that, it's all about drafting my victory speech and sorting out what Pinewood Derby winning endorsements I should take.
Columnist John Marx can be reached at (309) 786-6441, ext. 291, or by e-mail at .
immortal1 (linn)
+1y
After race publication
Print publication date: 02/09/2007
With rear wheel draggin’, Dispatch-Argus derby car finishes third
The Dispatch/Argus pinewood derby car lies on the track after its two rear wheels fell off in the semifinal race at the Iowa/Illinois Regional Auto Show at the RiverCenter in Davenport on Thursday night.
The Dipatch/Argus pinewood derby car, right, crosses the finish line first to win its third race and advance into the semifinals at the Iowa/Illinois Regional Auto Show at the RiverCenter in Davenport on Thursday night.
"I thought The Dispatch-Argus-Iowa-Illinois-Taylor-Insulation Racing Team did a great job," I said in my post-Iowa/Illinois Regional Auto Show Media Pinewood Derby race remarks Thursday.
"My design crew of Jamie D'Aprile and Linn Fahrenkrug (from IITI) put together a winning car. It took something special to keep us from being crowned champion. Now, can someone tell me what sponsor’s hat I'm supposed to put on and what energy drink I'm supposed to spray myself with? Man, I love this racin' stuff!"
Yep, it took a remote-control car -- and I'm sure a busload of engineers -- from Lujack's Auto Plaza to edge me in the semifinals at the RiverCenter.
Lujack's "Recon Car," which took first place, and The Dispatch-Argus-Iowa-Illinois-Taylor-Insulation Special, were the only two cars to win their final races of the night.
"Finishing third out of 29 cars, winning four of the five races we were in, and doing most of it with a disabled car (I'll get to that later) made for a great night of racin'," I said in post-race interviews with sales people from the newspapers. "Boy, it capped a tough week, which included a rather lengthy lesson on the virtues of Pinewood Derby car-making -- and racing -- from my new pal and longtime Cub Scout den mother, Darlene Carlson of East Moline, formerly of Cambridge."
The Dispatch-Argus-Iowa-Illinois-Taylor-Insulation Special was gutsy if it was anything.
After dusting the WLLR FM 103.7 car in the first round, the Special hit the barrier stopping the race cars fast and hard, knocking off its right rear wheel.
No matter. The car, designed perfectly by Team D'Aprile/Fahrenkrug, won its second and third heats by one and seven car lengths, respectively. Each time, the right rear tire fell off at race's end.
The quarterfinal victory against some fancy, wind-up thing from Eriksen Chevrolet-Buick, cost the Special both back wheels. Again, it was a case of hitting that barrier too fast and hard.
"I knew our time was up with both back wheels off and that remote-control thing up next," I said to anyone who'd listen after the night of racing was complete. “But we went after it, because it's what we do."
The Special smoked some crazy contraption with a drumstick from Lujack's for third place, and the celebration was on.
Third place means The Dispatch-Argus-Iowa-Illinois-Taylor-Insulation Special has a nifty trophy to share, the first of what I'm sure will be many Auto Show trophies.
It also means lots of money will be raised for the local Boys Scouts at this weekend's Auto Show.
Print publication date: 02/09/2007
With rear wheel draggin’, Dispatch-Argus derby car finishes third
The Dispatch/Argus pinewood derby car lies on the track after its two rear wheels fell off in the semifinal race at the Iowa/Illinois Regional Auto Show at the RiverCenter in Davenport on Thursday night.
The Dipatch/Argus pinewood derby car, right, crosses the finish line first to win its third race and advance into the semifinals at the Iowa/Illinois Regional Auto Show at the RiverCenter in Davenport on Thursday night.
"I thought The Dispatch-Argus-Iowa-Illinois-Taylor-Insulation Racing Team did a great job," I said in my post-Iowa/Illinois Regional Auto Show Media Pinewood Derby race remarks Thursday.
"My design crew of Jamie D'Aprile and Linn Fahrenkrug (from IITI) put together a winning car. It took something special to keep us from being crowned champion. Now, can someone tell me what sponsor’s hat I'm supposed to put on and what energy drink I'm supposed to spray myself with? Man, I love this racin' stuff!"
Yep, it took a remote-control car -- and I'm sure a busload of engineers -- from Lujack's Auto Plaza to edge me in the semifinals at the RiverCenter.
Lujack's "Recon Car," which took first place, and The Dispatch-Argus-Iowa-Illinois-Taylor-Insulation Special, were the only two cars to win their final races of the night.
"Finishing third out of 29 cars, winning four of the five races we were in, and doing most of it with a disabled car (I'll get to that later) made for a great night of racin'," I said in post-race interviews with sales people from the newspapers. "Boy, it capped a tough week, which included a rather lengthy lesson on the virtues of Pinewood Derby car-making -- and racing -- from my new pal and longtime Cub Scout den mother, Darlene Carlson of East Moline, formerly of Cambridge."
The Dispatch-Argus-Iowa-Illinois-Taylor-Insulation Special was gutsy if it was anything.
After dusting the WLLR FM 103.7 car in the first round, the Special hit the barrier stopping the race cars fast and hard, knocking off its right rear wheel.
No matter. The car, designed perfectly by Team D'Aprile/Fahrenkrug, won its second and third heats by one and seven car lengths, respectively. Each time, the right rear tire fell off at race's end.
The quarterfinal victory against some fancy, wind-up thing from Eriksen Chevrolet-Buick, cost the Special both back wheels. Again, it was a case of hitting that barrier too fast and hard.
"I knew our time was up with both back wheels off and that remote-control thing up next," I said to anyone who'd listen after the night of racing was complete. “But we went after it, because it's what we do."
The Special smoked some crazy contraption with a drumstick from Lujack's for third place, and the celebration was on.
Third place means The Dispatch-Argus-Iowa-Illinois-Taylor-Insulation Special has a nifty trophy to share, the first of what I'm sure will be many Auto Show trophies.
It also means lots of money will be raised for the local Boys Scouts at this weekend's Auto Show.
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