by Jill Schafer

Pinewood Derby Racing Fever!

Racing fever hit Mitchell 1 on Thursday, May 21 with the second annual Pinewood Derby Day held at Mitchell 1 headquarters in Poway CA. We had over 42 cars competing; all designed by employees of Mitchell 1 and other Snap-on divisions in the U.S., Ireland and England. It was a great day of racing on our brand new high-tech track system featuring race management software that delivers results instantaneously as the cars cross the finish line.

All of the cars were put through a rigorous tech inspection before competing. Mike Alberry, product manager for Mitchell 1 ProDemand, was the race host and coordinator, and was assisted by a professional and hard-working pit crew and judging panel. An enthusiastic crowd of car owners and spectators filled the room throughout the event and raffle prizes were awarded to entrants. The action was streamed live from the Mitchell 1 office in Poway, so Snap-on folks around the world could cheer on their cars in real time. Racers from the Mitchell 1 and King’s Lynn locations swept the slate for “fastest” and “best looking car” divisions.

After six races per car and a total of 42 heats, the final race ended with a very close finish. The winners with the fastest cars were all from Mitchell 1:

1^st place: David Block (2.617)
2^nd place: Jason Slocum (2.622)
3^rd place: Sean Gharabaghli (2.630)

Winners of the “Best Looking” division were all from the Snap-on King’s Lynn location in Norfolk England:

1^st place: Julian Woods
2^nd place: Harry Barrett
3^rd place: Pedro Roodenburg

The winners won a trophy and their 15 seconds of racing fame. Pinewood Derby Day is an annual event held the week before the Indy 500 race in the U.S.

Below are some additional photos from race day (Click images to expand to full size). You can also check out even more photos on the Mitchell 1 Facebook Page.