Cub Car Takes Design Award

It wasn't the fastest, but it sure looked nice! And the judges agreed as they awarded Jakob's cub car the second place trophy in the "10 Year Old Best Design" category at this year's Simcoe Phoenix Area Kub Kar Rally.

This was the third -- and final -- year for Cub cars, and the first year that Jakob's car was actually entered in the design contest. In both previous years, his car was too busy racing in the finals to enter in the design contest.

Conceived by Jakob, and created with help from Dad, the 2006 creation was a bold blue streamlined car with a powerful bolt of lightning running down the length.

When it came to the Area races, the car proved a consistent performer, finishing fourth out of sixth in four races. In a final race, it managed a third place finish, but it wasn't enough to go to the finals. However, that meant the car could be entered into the design contest!

Normally the design contest is dominated by tricked-out cars that appear to be hand-carved by... well, fathers, actually. But Jakob's unusual design caught the eyes of the judges, and made it to the podium along with two other very nice cars: a traditional race car in first, and a school bus taking third.

Jakob's one lament after the area races was that he couldn't enter his 2005 car in the design contest. That one caused quite a stir on race day, since it used a design technique that seemed to be brand new. It was the only car that actually had the creator behind the steering wheel. The "Skull Racer" was fast, though. It went undefeated at the Area race, which put it in the finals and out of the design contest.

His 2004 car was also fast enough to hit the finals and finish in the top 10.