Note: More media content is available for this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Max Jaeger
Brooklyn Daily
It was a day at the races.
About 300 people gathered at Kings Plaza Mall on March 1 to watch Boy Scouts from all over Brooklyn compete for pinewood derby supremacy. For the event, Scouts build a racecar from a block of wood and pit the cars against one another in a down-hill race.
“It’s a beautiful day,” said parent Ashely Faicco. “You get the kids running around having a blast.”
Her son Joseph has been participating for three years as part of Troop 20 from New Utrecht Reformed Church — it was the first year that he won, she said.
Joseph took first place in his division, and judges named his racer the fastest car in the competition. It crossed the finish line in 2.4820 seconds, said his father, Robert Faicco.
Building a racer can take months of research, prep, and fabrication, he said.
“It’s a long, tedious process, and we love it,” he said.
The competition pitted top racers from Boy Scout troops around the borough and served as a qualifying round for a citywide race at Yankee Stadium in June, said Boy Scouts of America Breukelen district activities chairwoman Melodie DePaola.
The event also raised money to support three Boy Scout camps in the metropolitan area, she said.
Robert Faicco said he and Joseph will not tweak their design before June’s citywide race.
“Why would we mess with perfection?” he said.