Mark Rober's RC Car Derby Teaches Kids to Fail Better

What if losing a race could be the best thing that ever happened to you? That's the lesson millions of kids are learning from Mark Rober's newest engineering adventure.

The former NASA engineer and YouTube creator just released a video showing teams of young engineers battling it out with custom-built RC cars made from junkyard parts. The "Engineers vs Junkyard RC Car Death Match" dropped Friday and immediately captured the attention of his 72.9 million subscribers.

Rober designed the challenge specifically to normalize failure as part of the creative process. Teams had to scavenge parts, design vehicles, and race them in a dirt box derby where things breaking down wasn't just expected but celebrated as a learning moment.

The video promotes his CrunchLabs STEM subscription service, which sends monthly engineering projects to kids aged 6 and up. Each box comes with a hands-on challenge designed to teach problem-solving through trial and error.

Why This Inspires

In a world where kids often see only polished final products on social media, Rober's approach flips the script. His videos show the messy middle part where things go wrong, adjustments get made, and creativity happens.

The competition format made engineering accessible and fun rather than intimidating. Kids watching saw their peers struggle, laugh at mistakes, and ultimately succeed not despite failures but because of them.

Rober's catchphrase for the video says it all: "Never trust a lemon with a motor." It's a playful reminder that when things inevitably break, that's not the end of the story but the beginning of figuring out why.

His educational approach has already reached millions of young minds through previous viral videos on topics ranging from self-driving cars to Disney's secret engineering labs. This latest project continues his mission of making science exciting and failure acceptable.

The thousands of comments flooding in show kids and parents alike celebrating the message that making mistakes is how real engineers work.