When Kim walks over to the track to run some tests
with her car, she sees Darlene Peabody, the bully of the race way, timing
her car with an elaborate light device and a lap top computer.
Kim Johnson, Emily Johnson's 13 year-old daughter,
has built a wooden race car and is eager to compete in the Soapwood Derby
Grand Pentathlon of Racing, a contest where handmade cars complete tricks
for points. After running her car, Kim's Komet, in a local qualifying round, Kim arrives
at Soapwood Derby Headquarters and speaks with Ms. Donovan, the track
manager, to see if her car finished well enough to compete in division
AAA, the highest division of the Pentathlon Finals.
When Kim walks over to the track to run some tests
with her car, she sees Darlene Peabody, the bully of the race way, timing
her car with an elaborate light device and a lap top computer.
Darlene gives Kim a snarl as she drops her car down
the track. She races to pick her car out of the basket, runs back to her
computer, and gloats over the results of her car's run. She thrusts the distance/time graph
into Kim's hand and laughs. Kim begins to lose confidence in her car. Ms. Donovan
comes over and breaks up the confrontation. She comforts Kim, explaining that
points will be awarded for successfully completing each event. Bonus points will
also be awarded based on the car's starting height on the ramp. The range of speeds
required for each trick will be announced the day of the big race.
Kim is so shaken she goes home without testing her
car. When her older brother Greg comes into her room to cheer her up, Kim
explains the contest to him. She must know how fast her car should
travel to most efficiently complete five tricks: a long jump, a short
jump, a banked curve, a double hump, and a loop-the-loop. Greg looks over Kim's handout
from the Pentathlon organizers and his eyes roll. What a task! But Greg gets a
brainstorm: they'll ask Larry Peterson for help.
Greg and Kim go to Larry's house. They tell Larry
about the Grand Pentathlon contest and ask for his help determining
where Kim should release her car to most efficiently complete each trick.
With Larry they look over the readout from Darlene's trial and Larry uses
it to explain how fast Kim's car will be going as it travels down the
track. Kim begins to see how she can figure out where to place her car on
the ramp for each trick. All three go back to the track to test Kim's car
and prepare for the Pentathlon Finals.
At the track Larry buys a Mondo-Gulp size lemonade to
split with the Greg and Kim, and they get down to work. Kim releases her
car from various distances up the ramp and the three friends gather data
to help them determine the best places on the ramp to release Kim's car to
complete the five events.
After gathering their data, Kim and Larry are
confident about her chances in the Pentathlon finals.
The day of the Pentathlon Finals arrives. Larry, Kim
and Greg watch Darlene as she releases her car on the ramp and completes
the loop-the-loop, the last trick of the finals. Darlene's car completes
the trick and earns her another 115 points. Darlene walks past Kim and
smugly comments on her sure victory. This time Kim's confidence remains unshaken
as she looks over her SMART Tools and examines her place in the
contest standings. She has one chance to steal a victory with this last
trick.