One of the implicit goals of the Cub Scouts program is to keep kids on the straight and narrow, though it's merely a hope when it comes to their driving skills.
A group of area Cub Scout packs held their annual Cubmobile Derby in downtown Fargo on Saturday, giving about 110 boys a chance to channel their inner Dale Earnhardts.
"Who needs NASCAR?" joked Ron Howe of Horace, N.D., after watching two carts collide.
The majority of Scouts were able to keep their homemade wooden carts between the orange cones and rubber tires marking the two-lane track, but steering mishaps were not uncommon.
No significant injuries were reported. "They don't mind a little bruise - nothing serious," said volunteer organizer Craig Kjos.
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On his first run down the hill, Mitchell Walstad, 9, of Pack 212 from Bennett Elementary in Fargo, accidentally took a sharp right turn into a curb when he pulled the handbrake a tad too soon.
"I'm OK!" he shouted.
"Kind of fun, kind of not," was Walstad's verdict after his first-ever Cubmobile heat. "I just hope the second one goes a lot better."
The slope along First Avenue South from Seventh Street to Broadway was relatively gentle, though Cass County Deputy Dan Hermann - parked alongside an ambulance at the end of the track - did clock one cart at 12 mph. Most were more in the 9 to 10 mph range, he said.
Tophies were awarded for the fastest times, as well as for best design and best Scouting spirit. If there was a prize for most elaborate, a group from Horace Mann Elementary in Fargo would have been a lock.
The third-graders took the cart they used last year - which like most of the 34 racing Saturday was little more than three two-by-fours with wheels and a seat attached - and added a roll cage and battery-powered headlights and taillights.
"We were trying to make it look like a dune buggy," said Garrett Goldader.
The extra flourishes proved inefficient, though, as the cart was trounced by smaller and lighter opponents.
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"At least we still got to race it," Goldader said.
Indeed, winning trophies seemed like an afterthought.
"That's the name of the game: Don't get hurt and have fun," said Howe, whose two sons - 6 and 9 years old - were competing. "I don't care if my kids win or lose, as long as they finish."
That's a philosophy that was tested when his youngest, Hunter, got caught on the tires marking the lanes three times on his way down the hill. "I didn't know which way to turn," Hunter said after the race.
He wasn't the only one. Even the adults struggled.
In an exhibition to kick off the derby, Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness beat Moorhead Councilwoman Lauri Winterfeldt-Shanks in a blowout when her cart stopped mid-hill.
"The boys did enjoy that," Kjos said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Roepke at (701) 241-5535
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