Kid-Kart Derby

**Kid-Kart Derby** is the second half of the sixteenth episode of *Ready Jet Go!*.

## Synopsis

Jet builds an electric engine from scratch for the annual soapbox derby competition, but Mitchell, determined to win the derby, is suspicious that Jet is using some alien technology.

## Plot

Jet, Sean, Sydney and Mr. Peterson are standing around in the neighborhood. Mr. Peterson is explaining to the kids that the annual Boxwood Terrace soapbox derby is this coming weekend. Sean is very excited for it. Jet doesn't know what a kid-kart derby is. Mr. Peterson remembers that Jet recently moved to Boxwood Terrace. Jet is about to say that he's from another planet, but Sydney shuts his mouth and says that he's from a *planned community*.

Mr. Peterson assumes that Jet is from the midwest from his accent, and it turns out that he's technically right, as Bortron is in the middle of their spiral arm of the galaxy. Mr. Peterson doesn't know what Bortron is and asks if its in Iowa. He then explains the rules of the derby. Jet is very excited, and he and his friends dash off to the garage to build a kid-kart. As they leave, Mr. Peterson mutters that he likes Jet due to his good attitude. Unbeknownst to anyone, Mitchell is in the bushes, jealously looking on.

In the garage, Jet presents some crates and thinks that they would make a good racer. He wants to call it "Bortron's Finest". Sydney wants to name it "Ganymede", the name of Commander Cressida's spaceship. Jet doesn't understand the Earth word "win". Sydney explains to him what it means. Sean is confident that they will win this year, as in the last 2 years, Mitchell won. Jet says that he likes Mitchell and thinks he's funny. He wonders what he's up to.

Meanwhile, Mitchell is in the bushes, spying on Jet. He intends to find out what Jet's building, so he can make something even better and win the race. Mindy enters his field of vision, and asks who he's talking to. Mitchell is very startled by Mindy's presence. Mindy says that she was going to Jet's garage, and thought she'd say hi to Mitchell. Mindy asks Mitchell to come and see what Jet's building. Mitchell explains that's not how being a detective works, and that he has to stay outside and guess, and write stuff down in his notebook. Mindy leaves.

Back in the garage, Jet, Sean and Sydney are making great progress with their kart, as Mindy arrives, Sean explains that they're making it more aerodynamic, to make air flow over it smoother. The kids are positive that their kart will win. As Mindy leaves, Jet states that he wants to put something in it to make it fast. Sydney warns him that he has to keep his alien identity a secret, and that means no interstellar overdrive. Jet likes the challenge of making the kart entirely out of Earthie stuff. He and Sunspot have been studying Earthie engines, and he really likes them. His idea to make an electric engine. Jet explains that electric engines are great since they deliver full power right away, unlike gas-powered engines, which have to build up to full power. Sydney asks what it means, and Jet answers that it means they'll go faster than the other racers. Jet then inserts some junk he found in the dumpster at the DSA into his kart. He successfully make a kart entirely out of Earth junk. He then inserts one Earth battery, completing the kart.

Sean is worried that it won't go fast enough, but Jet is confident that it will, and that they will win the race. Outside of the garage, Mitchell is listening in on Jet's plans, and misinterprets his comment as a "submarine sandwich will go really fast". Mindy barges in and clarifies that it was actually "electric engine", startling Mitchell. Mitchell begs Mindy to stop sneaking up on him. Mindy claims that she can't help it, since she's going to Jet's garage. Mindy asks Mitchell to come see Jet's electric engine with her, but Mitchell harshly rejects her. Mindy ignores this and happily skips into the garage.

In the garage, Mindy praises the kart, but think it's missing something. Jet realizes that wheels are needed for the kart. Sean and Sydney offer to get wheels off their bicycles and put them on the kart. Mitchell is listening in on their plans again, and runs away in shock. As Sean and Sydney exit the garage, Mindy says hi to Mitchell. After the kids leave, Mitchell tries to gather his cups, but Jet startles him. Mitchell denies that he was spying on him. He claims that he was playing a game with the cups and tangerine - "guess where the tangerine is hidden". Jet asks him if he wants to look at his kart. Mitchell stammers and says he'd love to,

Jet shows off his kart to Mitchell, saying that it's powered by a simple Earthie electric engine, which is small, but deliver full power, or "torque", without having to build up to speed. Mitchell writes that down in his notebook. He overhears Sydney, and decides to run away. Outside, Mitchell deviously remarks that he thinks the electric engine is some kind of alien technology, and that Mitchell will show everyone that Jet is an alien. He leaves to go think up an even better engine for his racer.

The day of the race has arrived. Everyone has gathered in the town square. Jet and Sean pull up with Ganymede, Bortron's Baddest Scientific Speedster. Jet says that they'll have to decide who will drive the kart. Everyone thinks that Jet should drive, since he built the engine. Jet is delighted at this. Later, all the karts are lined up at the starting point. Jet is confident that they will win. Mitchell then arrives with his kart, and the other racers gush over him. Before the race can even began, Mitchell interrupts and protest that Jet is using alien technology for his kart. However, Mr. Peterson doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. Jet remarks that he got spare parts for his kart at the DSA. Mitchell says that getting spare parts from the Deep Space Array is against the rules. Mr. Peterson says that it isn't.

Finally, the race begins. Jet takes the lead at first, but then slows down to say hi to Mitchell. Sean is surprised at this. Jet says that he is interested in all the other Earthie engine ideas. Sean, Sydney and Mindy remind him that he's supposed to win. Jet thinks that if he waits back behind everyone, and then put on a big burst of speed at the end, it would make the whole "winning" thing even more dramatic. Jet catches up with Mitchell, and asks "Isn't this exciting?" Mitchell boasts that he looked up space engines and found the plans for an ion drive, and that it should beat Jet's alien electric drive. Mitchell tries to turn on the ion drive, but it doesn't work. Jet clarifies that this is because ion drives only work in the vacuum of space. Mitchell laments that he should have read farther down in the plans. Jet says that's okay, since he was probably in a hurry. Mitchell then attempts to pedal to victory.

Sydney warns Jet that he is making too many twists. Sydney says that he has to go faster. Jet then puts on a big burst of speed, and is about to win. However, Cody the dog is in Jet's path. To avoid running him over, Jet goes the other way. He is about to crash into a pile of boxes, and then he ejects his seat. This causes Jet to lose, and Mitchell to win for the third year in a row.

Sean and Sydney are rather disappointed, until they see Jet flying in with a parachute. Mitchell is extremely elated that he has won for the third year in a row, and asks if anyone wants his autograph. However, everyone is ignoring him in favor of Jet. This saddens Mitchell. Sean, Sydney and Mindy run up to embrace Jet, and tell him that his feats were awesome. Mindy is disappointed that they didn't win though, but Jet isn't, since they learned so much from this experiment. Sean says that he loved Jet's ejection-seat-parachute-thingy. Jet calls winning a fascinating Earth idea. Mitchell is away from the crowd, all alone, and very sad. Jet notices Mitchell's sadness, and proceeds to lead a crowd in chanting his name. Jet puts his arm around his shoulder and says he can't wait for next year, plus he proposes potential engine types: solar, cold fusion and cold pasta. Everybody laughs, and the episode ends.

## Characters

* Jet Propulsion
* Sean Rafferty
* Sydney Skelley
* Mindy Melendez
* Sunspot Propulsion
* Mitchell Peterson
* Carrot Propulsion
* Celery Propulsion
* Mr. Peterson
* Dr. Rafferty
* Dr. Bergs
* Lillian (cameo)

## Learning Goals

An ion drive engine is a very fuel-efficient engine for space vehicles. Ion beams are capable of propelling spacecraft at up to 10 times faster than ships propelled by chemical rockets.

## Trivia

* In this episode, Mindy shyly asks Mitchell if he wants to see Jet's electric engine with her, which could be interpreted as Mindy trying to ask Mitchell out on a date.
* So far, this is Mitchell's most antagonistic episode.
* Lillian makes her first appearance since *The Grandest Canyon*.
* Before the race even starts, Mitchell blurts out that Jet is using alien technology, but Mr. Peterson doesn't believe him.
* Mitchell wins the derby in this episode, but everyone was cheering on Jet instead.
	+ This was also the 3rd year in a row that Mitchell won the derby.
* This episode implies that Mitchell may be popular in Boxwood Terrace. Before the race started, two of the other racers were gushing over him. And after Mitchell won the derby, he asked anyone if they wanted autographs from him.
	+ However, this episode also implies that even though Mitchell does have a few fans, he does not have any *real friends*. Everyone was cheering for Jet instead of Mitchell, even though Jet didn't win. Mitchell is shown looking sad and wistful music plays in the background. Luckily, Jet, being popular as well, gets the entire crowd to cheer for Mitchell instead.
* At one point, Bergs is shown not wearing his glasses.
* Jet saying that next year's karts might be solar-powered is foreshadowing to *Racing on Sunshine*, the sequel to the episode where the karts are indeed solar-powered.

## Gallery

As you can see, Bergs has no glasses in this particular screen cap.