Racing

The header turns navy blue. The progress bar starts moving. Before the first matchup appears, the system shuffles the participant list — the order in which racers were added or checked in doesn't matter. Everyone starts from a random position, and the algorithm takes it from there.

Your Race Supervisors — the Scouts you assigned during check-in — are at the track. One at the start, one at the finish. The MC has their microphone. Parents are scanning the QR code. The first matchup is on screen. Let's go.

The Matchup Card

The center of the dashboard is the Next Race card. It shows two names, their categories, their stats so far — and which lane each car goes on.

The Supervisor at the start finds the two cars on the staging table by their name stickers, flips each one over to double-check the name on the bottom matches, and places them on the correct lanes. The Supervisor at the finish watches the cars cross. One click on "Record Result" and the system records the winner, updates everyone's stats, and generates the next matchup. The whole cycle takes about 30 seconds.

That's the rhythm: matchup → place → race → record → repeat. The Supervisors don't need to think about who races next — the system handles all of that. They just run cars.

Two Screens, Two Jobs

The Race Supervisor and the MC both see the dashboard — but they don't see the same thing.

The Supervisor's view is stripped down: names, categories, lane markers, basic stats. Everything a Scout needs to place cars and record results — nothing they don't. After a race is recorded, the previous winner appears above the next matchup card, so the Supervisor (and anyone nearby) can see who just won without scrolling down to the run history.

The MC's view is richer. They see racer photos, car names — so they can announce "Lightning McQueen versus Dad's Revenge!" instead of just reading off participant names — and whether this pair has raced before (rematch indicator). They see detailed stats for color commentary: "Tyler is on a three-win streak!" or "This is Mr. Sherman's first loss all evening!" The matchup type labels that the public screen never shows are visible here too — the MC knows the full context. Their job is entertainment, and the system gives them the material to do it well.

This separation is intentional. The Supervisor needs speed and clarity — they're running the physical track. The MC needs context and flavor — they're running the crowd. Same data, different lenses.

Lane Markers

You'll notice the system doesn't say "left lane" and "right lane." Instead, each lane has a shape and color: a green triangle and a red circle.

There's a practical reason. Your two Supervisors stand at opposite ends of the track — one at the start, one at the finish. If the system said "left," the Supervisor at the start and the one at the finish would be looking at different lanes. "Left" from the start is "right" from the finish. First-time Supervisors got confused every single time.

Shapes solve this. A green triangle is a green triangle no matter where you're standing. It also works for people who sometimes mix up left and right, and when you combine shape + color, it's accessible to those with color vision differences too.

The Supervisor can swap which physical lane is "triangle" and which is "circle" — a toggle in the settings. If the device is on the left side of the track, you want the triangle on the near lane so what you see on screen matches what's in front of you. Move to the other side? Swap it. One click, and all future matchups reflect the new assignment. You need four physical markers total — one shape at each end of each lane — and the supply calculator already counted them.

Every detail here is designed to reduce errors. Professional sports learned this the hard way — the NFL didn't get instant replay until 1986 because officials kept making calls they couldn't verify from where they were standing. Our Race Supervisors are twelve-year-olds, not referees. The system meets them where they are: clear shapes, matching screen-to-track orientation, and a double-check sticker on the bottom of every car. The fewer decisions a Supervisor has to make under pressure, the fewer mistakes end up in the results.

How the Algorithm Picks Matchups

After each race, the system decides who should race next. This isn't random. It's not a bracket. It's a sorting algorithm — the same kind of logic a computer uses to sort a list, except each "comparison" is a real race between two cars.

The algorithm picks the pair whose matchup will reveal the most information about the overall ranking. Early in the race, anyone might face anyone. As the picture gets clearer, matchups get tighter — racers close in rank facing each other to settle who's faster.

If the system already knows that Car A beat Car B, and Car B beat Car C — it can infer that Car A is faster than Car C without racing them directly. This saves time. With 24 racers, the algorithm fully ranks everyone in about 55–87 matchups depending on the tournament style.

For the curious: the default engine is a galloping merge sort. If a racer wins three comparisons in a row against a block of opponents, the algorithm switches to a faster search strategy to find where they belong — skipping unnecessary matchups. The algorithm deep dive has the full story.

One thing you might notice: sometimes the same racer appears in several consecutive matchups. That's not a glitch — it means the algorithm is actively working out where they fit in the ranking, testing them against different opponents in sequence. It's the same thing a merge sort does when inserting an element into its correct position. Once the system has enough information, that racer settles into place and others take the spotlight.

Category Banners

Depending on the tournament style chosen during planning, you might see banners like "Now Racing: Tiger!" or "Now Racing: Adults!" — with a note below: "Other categories — enjoy a short break!"

In Neighbors First mode, the algorithm races each priority group internally first (youth, then guests, then adults), then merges them into one ranking. Peers First goes deeper — it sorts within each individual rank (Tigers among Tigers, Wolves among Wolves) before merging up. In both cases, the banners tell the room which group is up. In All Unified mode, everyone's in one pool from the start — no category banners, just matchups.

Either way, cross-category matchups happen — a Tiger racing a Wolf, a sibling's car against a Leader's. The system considers these valid comparisons because on a gravity track, physics doesn't care about your age badge. And for the audience, these are the matchups everyone remembers.

When the System Suggests Extra Races

Most matchups flow automatically — the algorithm picks the next pair, the Supervisor runs it, done. But sometimes the balancing system steps in and suggests an extra matchup — a consolation or engagement run to get an idle racer back on the track.

These suggestions don't go straight to the public screen or even to the MC. They appear only on the Race Supervisor's dashboard first. The RS reviews the suggestion and approves it before anyone else sees it. This prevents false announcements — the MC won't call out a matchup that the Supervisor might decide to skip.

The system's suggestions are good. After a year of refinement, the balancer rarely proposes something that doesn't make sense. But the RS always has final say. There's also a manual override from v1 — the ability to pick any two participants for a custom matchup — kept for edge cases, though in practice the algorithm handles it.

Keeping Everyone Racing

The sorting algorithm is efficient — it finds the ranking in fewer races than a bracket or round-robin. But efficiency has a side effect: some racers might sit idle while the algorithm works on a different part of the ranking.

That's where Mid-Tournament Balancing kicks in. The system tracks two metrics for every participant:

• Balance — how many races you've had compared to other racers. Green "Yes" means you're keeping pace. Yellow means you're falling behind.
• Excitement — how engaged a racer is, driven largely by wins. Green = having a great time. Red = hasn't won in a while and needs a boost.

When someone falls behind, the balancer intervenes — it inserts a matchup for the idle racer before the algorithm's next suggestion. The racer gets a race, the algorithm's ranking work continues on the next turn. Nobody sits out for long.

Is it perfect? Not yet — balancing is the part of the system that evolves most with each event. You can configure the strategy during planning (Participation Equity or Positive Experience), and the balancing deep dive explains the trade-offs. The goal is simple: every kid goes home having raced enough to feel like they were part of it.

The Progress Bar

At the top of the Race Info card, a progress bar fills as races complete. Next to it: "27 → 28" — meaning 27 races done out of an estimated 28.

The estimate comes from the algorithm's knowledge of how many comparisons it typically needs to sort a field of this size. It's usually close — but the actual number depends on how the matchups play out. Some participant distributions resolve quickly, others need more races to settle. Balancing and consolation runs add to the count too. Pack 23's 2025 derby: 87 races completed vs. 82 estimated — close enough to plan your evening around.

Custom Runs

When the algorithm finishes — all comparisons made, ranking complete — the dashboard shows: "No Next Match Suggested. Racing stage complete!"

But the race doesn't have to end there. This is the moment where the Race Supervisor and the adult leader look at each other, look at the room, and decide together: are we done, or does someone need one more race? The "Start Custom Run" button lets them create matchups manually. These runs are tracked in the system but don't affect the sorted ranking.

When you pick a racer for a custom run, the system shows who they've already faced — so you don't accidentally repeat a matchup unless you want to. The Balance and Excitement bars are your guide: maybe a kid with low excitement needs one more win to leave happy, or two friends who haven't raced each other are begging for a showdown. You know which kid's eyes lit up after their last win, and which parent has been quietly hoping for one more turn. The data on screen confirms what you already saw in the crowd.

A few custom runs or none at all — it's your call. When you're ready, click "Finish Race" to move to the Judging stage. The standings lock. The header turns red.

Regatta: A Different Kind of Race

Everything above describes the Pinewood Derby engine — gravity-powered cars, comparison-based sorting, deterministic results. The Rain Gutter Regatta uses the same dashboard, the same matchup card, the same spectator page — but a completely different engine underneath.

Instead of sorting, the regatta uses a Swiss System: fixed rounds where everyone races in each round, winners face winners, and rankings are determined by accumulated scores — not by elimination or position in a sort tree.

Why the difference? Because a seven-year-old's lung power varies wildly between races — derby is physics, regatta is chaos. The Swiss System handles that chaos gracefully: no single bad race eliminates anyone, and enough rounds let the best sailors rise to the top through consistency, not luck.

The Supervisor's workflow is identical: matchup appears, boats race, record the winner, next round. The difference is behind the scenes. For the full breakdown, see the Regatta How It Works page.