Testimonials - GrandPrix Race Manager

Thanks Randy,

I just thought you should know, your software makes our race phenomenal. Before our purchase our race was long and slightly organized, after purchasing the GrandPrix software I would never consider running a race without it. Easy and extremely organized this is the best purchase we have made for our Pinewood Derby. Each year people take pictures of the screen when their scout or sibling is up to race, very cool.

Thanks,

Steve Brewton
Cub Scout Pack 54
Downers Grove, IL

FYI,

Thanks so much for the rush order and the great software. We used it today at out Pack 415 Pinewood Derby and everyone was quite impressed. It was much better than those old free Excel spreadsheets circulating on the net!

Everyone felt the race was run fair with a great mix of heats and rotations. My compliments on your great program.

Roy Hamlin
Cubmaster
Pack 415
Miami, FL

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Hi Randy,

I would not mind at all if you used my comments. I think your software saves time and all my parents were extremely pleased with the results. They were very skeptical at first because they did not want to invest the money and had used several excel spreadsheets that "had worked" for years. But the integration between registration, race scheduling, recording and scoring of heats, made the whole process so much easier. We spent more time racing than organizing which gave the kids tons of fun.

Thanks.

Roy

We purchased our track from BestTrack 2 years ago, ran 2 races without software support. We recently purchased GP Race Manager and WOW...what a difference!

No more trying to fumble through charts and spreadsheets, no more guesswork. The race practically ran itself and left the leaders with nothing to do but have fun. We had to run one heat twice and was able to do so without effort.

This was my 7th or 8th Pinewood Derby and up until now, I was not looking forward to the scoring or race tracking. Thanks for a great product, support and keep up the good work.

Barry Donewar
Pack 1101
Gretna, LA

We used this software for what was my second Pinewood Derby, and it made a real difference. This software is very well thought out and the little things make all of the difference. I am a professional programmer, and I was seriously considering writing software for our Pack after my first PWD. I didn't have time, so I tried this software instead. I'm glad I did.

Thank you.

Roy Newcomb
Cubmaster, Pack 361
Sioux Council
Sioux Falls, SD

Randy,

Just a quick note of thanks for your help. We held our derby this past Saturday. It was a roaring success! This is our first year with this pack as we moved to this community last August. They had been doing all race administration, scheduling, judging, etc by hand. We recommended the purchase of your software and constructed the start and finish line timing gear. The system worked flawlessly (after I got the noise out) and the kids were thrilled with the way the race was conducted. They love seeing times for their races and scale speeds. Track records were a thing of real pride (as they should be!). The event moved at a very fast pace which kept the kids attention. It was a wonderful event and we thank you very much for offering such a nice package for a very reasonable price.

Best Regards and may God bless you,

Doug Seim
Pack 923
Ross, Ohio

[Note: The "noise" that Doug is referring to was coming from his 5V power supply for his sensor system, which he was able to correct.]

We purchased your software last year, along with the Fast Track 6-lane timer. We used it fully integrated for the first time this year. We registered 26 cars the day before the race. I set up the schedules and rounds and had printouts for the race volunteers for queuing the cars. Well, race day, we had 3 more cars show up. Because of how easy your software is to use, I was able to get the cars registered, re-generate the schedules, and re-distribute new printouts to my volunteers. We were able to race 29 cars through 29 heats, then 12 cars through 12 semi-final heats, and then 6 cars through 6 Grand Finals heats. All in less than 1.5 hours! It all worked flawlessly! The boys especially loved the times and simulated speed...our new track record is 175.7 miles per hour!

Thank you for creating this product and helping us bring a new level of organization and excitement to our event!

Peter Armstrong
Pinewood Derby Chairman
Pack 219 - St. Katharine's
Wayne, PA

Randy,

I used GP 4 yesterday in our Pack's Pinewood Derby and it was fantastic (the operator wasn't so smooth, but I'll deal with that later). Our previous software was a Lotus 1-2-3 macro package that a Pack dad wrote. While it had several nice features, running and maintaining it would have been impossible. I searched the 'Net and decided to give GP a try. I worked with you to resolve some display problem with heat counts and that went great.

We run a Stearns fragment and I built race schedules in Excel (from Peronto Stearns) for 48, 54, 60, etc cars. Then I create a text file for each schedule for import to GP. On race day, I registered 52 cars and this went very well. Racing started off without a hitch. I think the boys really enjoyed seeing their names up on the big screen and this helped keep them focused on the racing. At one point in the race, the same heat came up twice! I panicked until I remembered that I fixed the error I found in the 54 car schedule everywhere but the GP import file!!! I deleted the bad heat and we raced on. At the end, I added the right heat back in and we ran it. Everything went wonderfully!!!! I will say that I left a crease in the plastic seat of the chair, but that was due to operator error and GP 4 covered my error without a hitch!

Now that the Stearns fragment is complete, we take the top 6 cars and move them to a Finals. When I displayed the standings, we had a tie for 6th!!!! We had a run-off for 6th and one car was clearly the winner. Despite a serious case of brain freeze, I manually selected the top six cars and moved them to a Grand Finals. I used the CPN generator to create the 12 heat finals and we ran that smooth as silk. At the end, we displayed the final standings using the "Display one at a time" style and the crowd loved it. Quite dramatic.

I have been using GP to post-analyze the race and the tools are wonderful. I'll post some suggestions in another thread as this one is too long already!! Just wanted to tell you that Pack 34 used your product and it was wonderful!!!! I had several folks ask about the software and all expressed that they thought the package really improved the racing! Great Job!!!

Tom Paulley
Pack 34
Houston, TX

I wanted to give you feedback on our Grand Prix held this week.... For many years the Awana Grand Prix has been a highlight of our Spring calendar. In the "old days" we used a double elimination method and judged via sight.

After research on the internet, I found the perfect-n process and implemented that two years ago. We manually tracked the results in an excel spreadsheet and still judged via sight. While deemed far fairer by the parents (and the kids loved the ability to race more over the course of the evening), we still had those "close calls" at the finish that ended up being a judgment call.

So this year, we made a huge jump thanks to technology. We purchased the Fast Track coupled with your software and looked forward to good things. I must admit that we under-estimated how valuable technology would be.

We were able to run 47 cars and come up with 6 top finishers to pass up to the grand finals - total time of 1:20. We had at least two rounds with ties for second place (try that visually!). The software interacted with the track flawlessly. The parents were impressed as they saw the results flash on the screen via our video projector.

Our grand prix will never be the same! Thank you for your part in a very successful evening!

John Sauceda
Wheaton Evangelical Free Church
Carol Stream, IL

Randy,

We held our Pinewood Derby last Sunday (3/7/04). Our first year with timers (DT8000) and software. Raced 40 cars on all 6 lanes in 90 minutes ! Used the software's Perfect N charts and schedules. We registered all the boys a week prior, so we all the rosters, scoresheets and scheduled pre-printed for race day.

What a blast !!! Everybody loved the new scheduled and format (vs the hated 2x elimination method we used in past with volunteers deciding the O.O.F.) Not a single disagreement about who raced who or who won. Only .3 seconds separated the top 10 finishers !!!

Thanks for putting up with all my questions over the last few weeks getting everything set-up. I really appreciate the fast service from you and Craig at Newbold. Only had to re-run 3 heats due to timer errors (flash pictures overloading the sensors). Being able to display the results via computer as well as special awards was a perfect ending to the race.

Thanks...

Don Wolf
Pack 152
Lexington, Ohio

Hello Randy and Stuart-

Just a note to tell you how pleased our pack was with the Microwizard Son of a Cheap timer and Grand Prix Race Manager software combination which we used for our Pinewood Derby races today. I really appreciated Stuart taking the time to answer my many questions over e-mail about the assembly of this very inexpensive timer and unsupported (but very powerful) timer.

For years, our pack had used an an antiquated optical placement detector that looked like it was left-over from some bad 50's science fiction movie and paper a double elimination system. My first experience with this system was last year, and many of the children left in tears after being immediately eliminated. I felt after researching a bit, that we could do far better.

What a difference a year makes! The combination of the precision timer, race management software with time-based racing (no elimination), and real-time display of results on a projector was an unforgettable experience. I was concerned about the new system and software, but it performed flawlessly! We only had to rerun 1 race of 33 due to a launch (human) error, and there was never a question of fairness at any point in the process. Not only did no one complain about the conduct of the races, I was complimented by over 25 parents of our small pack of 35 on what a positive experience it was, and what a huge improvement it was over the prior system. I was also interviewed by the local paper about our new system. The best part though was that all the kids left with smiles on their faces, and not just the winners!

Where our parents were previously reticent to approve spending a small amount of money to upgrade our system, now they are starting a collection to repay what little I spent (less than $170 total) on this combination and are wondering what other improvements we can do! Can you say starting line Christmas Tree and solenoid activated launching system? I knew you could.

Not only all this, but my son took second place at the derby and is competing in the district finals! What a great day, and we owe it all to you guys.

Thanks a lot.

Ed Scott
Pack 525
Saratoga, California