Hello everyone! Power Racing needs you! Hackerspaces from across the Midwest have joined together to race children’s toys. At first we did this because it was fun, but we continue to do this because it helps send a message to the public: making is fun. It is a SoapBox Derby for the 21st Century; a race that is amusing yet enlightening. The pressures of competitions are removed with the open nature of team sharing. Teams get together to celebrate their creations and race for fun. No monetary prizes are given, just the pride of building something, setting it out in the real world and working with others who tackled the same project.

Our Kickstarter intends to raise $20,000 so we can rent or develop a digital Timing & Scoring System because our current one is very rudimentary (hand counted) and has not scaled well to the number of cars and races we have (from 6 in 2010 to 20 in 2011 ). We also wish to host new race locations for more teams who have desired to race (Maker Faire New York, Maker Faire San Mateo). Finally, we wish to allow more teams to participate and sign up by expanding our series to other regions.

Many rewards are offered (including a yearbook!) for supporting PPPRS in 2012. We wish to use the community to support the series, so we don’t have to rely solely on sponsors to keep us afloat. We also wish to help support hackerspaces and teams by showing the public that their community is full of Makers who are excited to show them a whole slew of new skills and ability.

So tell a friend, tell your family and help spread the word! PPPRS has been a hackerspace community event since its inception, and now we wish for you to be a part of this maker community!

Hope to see you at the races.