Ethan Davies can build the best Hot Wheels track in Canada. And he's only six years old.
He was the winner of the inaugural Hot Wheels Track Builder Challenge, a nation-wide competition that tests kids' and teens' skills at piecing together strip after strip of orange Hot Wheels tracks.
Some of the other entrants had impressive tracks, but Ethan's stood out for judge and Hot Wheels track expert, Andrew Smiles.
"They get major bonus points if they did something I hadn't thought of before," he says. "Ethan's definitely had the greatest change in height."
His track started on the top bunk of his bed. It went down to the top of his dresser, then onto the bottom bunk (his sister's bed). From there it dipped down onto the floor of the bedroom and had numerous zigzags, flips, loops, and steep banks.
"The height was really unique with his track," says Smiles. "Plus, it looked cool with tons of colour."
The tracks were judged on creativity, length, aesthetics, complexity, and of course bonus points.
It was the biggest and longest track Ethan had ever made.
"It went all over the bedroom," says Ethan.
An expert panel judged more than 400 entries. People entered by uploading photos to the Hot Wheels website; Ethan entered four images. After hours of deliberation, Ethan’s track was dubbed the best in country.
As a result, track experts from Hot Wheels threw him a huge track-building party with 25 kids, plus adults, at his home on Saturday.
They brought in 250 feet of track and assembled it throughout the living room. Within less than an hour, it was disassembled by the children and smaller tracks started appearing all over the house.
Ethan also received a plaque, a Hot Wheels prize pack, and cake.
The 250 feet of track used during the party was donated to the British Columbia and Yukon Children’s Wish Foundation on Monday.