Almost everyone has some memories of Pinewood Derbies, most often associated with boy scouts. For the Blackham family, there was a little more than the usual Derby Daze. It started shortly after Landon's first derby. It wasn't great ... an old wood track, a yardstick for the starting gate, four judges attempting to eyeball the finish line. Grayson looked at his boys and realized he had MANY more years, and he wanted a better experience. That lead to his investment in a Pinewood Derby track (and tables, and timer, and computer/software, projector/screen).
There are quite a few posts on the Blackham Blog about derby days, although it doesn't go back to the beginning (2006). Gray started doing the derby just for our ward, but with such a set-up, he began doing derbies for others as well. We even took a family trip to St. George to run one for Wendy's ward (2008 ... and Wendy has many DERBY posts on the Jenson Journal blog). I don't have the records for every year, but my records show 2010/26, 2011/32, 2012/36, 2016/54, 2017/43, 2018/45, 2019/52. Gray would have one of the boys come along and help, moving in the equipment, setting up the computer/projector, and running the starting gate.
When the LDS church announced it was cutting ties with the Boy Scouts program, Gray wondered if that would impact/eliminate pinewood derbies, or if the church's replacement program would still utilize them. Gray had invested in a lot of legos, and had done some parties/youth activities featuring a Lego Derby as an option, he'd done some family/work ones, so it wasn't just boy scouts requesting his services. Alas, it was Covid that really cancelled things. There had been a few derbies in Jan/Feb of 2020, and then... the tracks went into storage and Gray wasn't sure if he'd be getting them out again.
Gray got a request for a derby in April of 2025 ... a favor for a friend. He did it, Landon was his helper (video short here). When Derek texted asking about derby status/possibilities, Grayson got him scheduled for November 12 and it was quite the night. Derek took some video.
Derek did a YouTube video showcasing the derby, and the car he created for it.
https://youtu.be/4_qOKVDID04?si=SLFQHeRNA-rPKr-T
