Planning Calendar

Pray that you will reach people with the Gospel. In particular, the Grand prix is a great time to reach parents and grand parents.
Get the support of your pastor and the other leaders. They will share your enthusiasm if you show that you will reach families.
Plan a date and check availability of building and church schedule.
Assign the job of Race Commissioner.
Determine if you will borrow or build a track. If borrowing the track, be sure it is available on your chosen date. If building the track, get started NOW!!

Order car kits, trophies, other awards and decorations from Awana headquarters, and Commander Ed’s Custom Products. (Car kits need to be individually pre-packaged into the small plastic bags provided. As you fill each bag with all of the parts, staple a small piece of paper to the top and write the assigned car number on it as cars are handed out.)
Have planning meeting to delegate the jobs, and to discuss promotion and logistics of the event. Use the Database and Job Descriptions to help you recruit and delegate. (These do not all have to be assigned at this time but you need to be aware of how many people are needed.)
Review previous year’s races and determine ways to improve the event.
Begin promotion weekly at club. (See section on promotion for some ideas.)
Determine your budget for the event (snacks, awards, etc.), determine the cost involved and decide on a price to charge for the car kits. (Cost of the car kits should cover the expenses not covered by budgeted amount.)
See “Items Needed to Run A Grand Prix” list and start to collect these items. Some of the items need to be built, and others are hard to find. Some need to be ordered, so start early and assign several people to help.

Car kits should go on sale each week between now and the race. Encourage clubbers to buy their cars early to have enough time to finish them. Use the database to print the Car Sign Up Sheets. (Print enough sheets to cover the likely number of cars in your event.) As cars are sold, have the driver sign up for a number on the Sign Up Sheet. It is absolutely necessary that you have a number assigned to each car. Write the car number on the small paper you stapled to the car kit. The car owner must put his car number some place on the car. The bottom is fine.
One thing you can do to help the car builders is to weigh and mark the wood blocks before you sell them. The wood blocks can vary greatly in weight. If some one wants to build a car that will have a lot of extra parts they would benefit by starting with a light block. If someone is cutting their block down a lot they would want to start with as heavy of a block as possible.
Send home fliers weekly if possible announcing this great event. Make sure parents hear about it so no clubber is disappointed by a schedule conflict.

Have a car-building workshop once or twice to assist clubbers who need the help in cutting out, carving, sanding, and painting their cars. (If possible have a small band saw available on club nights for leaders to help cut out the basic design for clubbers. This is often the greatest need in getting a car built.) Use every opportunity you have with kids and their parents to share Christ.
Start entering data into the Grand Prix Organizer. Continue entering data as cars are sold.

If possible, give those who have their cars ready a chance to weigh them on the official scales, test them in the GO-NO-GO box, and even give them a trial run down the track. This can cut down on wasted time on the day of the race. If you have a large club, pre- qualification may need to be done before the race day. If cars are pre-qualified, you will have to keep the cars in a safe place until the race. Racers will need to give a final lubrication on the race day.
When all racers are registered and the data is all entered into the database, print the design judging forms, brochures, leader's badges and racer's driver's licenses and snack tickets.
Set up the track and electronic finish line. Make sure everything works smoothly. If at all possible, set up the track and test all electronics the day before the race to give you time to work out any last minute bugs. This is a major step in assuring a smooth day!
Confirm availability of volunteers.
Train key volunteers about their jobs.
Set up entire room if at all possible. (See room arrangement.)

Make a final check of the room for proper set up.
Make a final check of the track and electronic eye. Check the sound system and overhead projector.