From the Racing Stripes all the way through to Disturbed, the Four Flaming Flamingos systematically defeated their opponents to come out on top of the Gentry Middle School Derby.

For the second year in a row, seventh graders at the school have participated in the derby while raising money for Victory Junction Gang Camp. They designed and built their own cars to race on the track in single elimination heats.

Despite a last minute malfunction, the Four Flaming Flamingos, including Samantha Pardue, Brandon Lineback, Kellie Bondurant and Miranda Stewart, sailed through each round to come out on top.

“I was either waiting for the wheel to fall off or the car to go off the track because the wheel was loose,” Lineback said after the race.

“I was just hoping and praying the wheel didn’t come off,” added Bondurant.

In the final race, the Flamingos faced the Disturbed who just narrowly advanced. Team Twilight, which had the support of a large number of spectators, was forced into a rematch against Disturbed to determine who would move on to the final after the first match was too close to call. Fans chanted “Twilight” in an effort to sway the judges their way but in the end, Disturbed won out.

In addition to finishing first, the Four Flaming Flamingos also won the Scout’s Choice Award which was chosen by the Boy Scout representatives who were present and the Speed Racer Award for having the fastest overall time. Disturbed, the second place team, also won the Fast Finish Award.

The MacDaddiez won the Whitfield’s Winner Award, given by David Whitfield who is a Boy Scout volunteer and who also cut the cars for the race. The Rock Star Award, given out by Rock Harris, a race car and truck driver, went to the North Carolina Tar Heels. Tom Hemmings, principal at Gentry Middle, gave the principal’s choice award to Team Nike. There were two Sportsmanship Awards given out, one to each academic team, to Team Twilight and Science Mobile. The Grandpa Award, given to the team with the slowest time, went to Monster Mutt. The People’s Choice Award was determined by votes collected in donation jars and went to the Queen Cobras.

In addition to the students, teachers took sides to form the Rodeo Team and the Safari Team. The Rodeo Team, whose car came complete with steer horns on the roof and a bucking bronco sticker on the hood, easily won the race. The Safari Team, whose orange and black striped car glared at others through eyes painted where the windshield would go, experienced technical difficulties as their car only rolled about four inches before coming to a stop. They got the car going again but it never crossed the finish line.

In addition to designing and building their cars, the students had to find sponsors in the community. They asked neighbors, churches, teams, families and friends for help in collecting money to donate to Victory Junction Gang Camp The camp is for children ages 7 to 15 who have a chronic illness. One week at camp costs about $2,500, a fee not paid by the families.

The students at Gentry collected more than $4,200, which they presented to Wendy Carriker, a volunteer at the camp who represented the camp at the derby. According to Sally Adams, teacher and organizer of the derby, money is still coming in. The students collected from more than 250 people, organizations and businesses.

The Ka-Ching Award, which was presented to the pit crew that raised the most money, went to the Flaming Monkeys along with the honor of presenting the check to Carriker.

“That is absolutely incredible,” said Wendie Gwynn, a teacher, of the amount raised. “You were relentless in seeking donations and it paid off.”

“I can feel my heart race. You all have done a wonderful, wonderful thing,” said Carriker, stating that the money raised will pay for two children to attend camp for a week. “This is a wonderful activity because they are not only learning but helping others as well.”

The seventh grade teachers came up with the idea for the derby last year when brainstorming about what to do for an integrated unit. They wanted the students to have something to work towards and came up with the idea because of the large appeal of racing in the area. Teachers integrated the project into every subject area even though it was based in science. They wrote letters to businesses and organizations in language arts classes and worked on graphs and scales in math classes, all relating to the project.

In addition to learning about wind resistance and friction, students also learned about the importance of teamwork.

“Don’t sand anything too much and just have good sportsmanship,” Pardue said in giving advice to next year’s seventh grade class.

“Just have fun,” added Lineback. “Use teamwork even if you’re helping another team.”

Money for the materials for the cars was donated by Surry Yadkin Electric and the Boy Scouts were on hand to provide support at the event from staging the race to judging the winners.