Pinewood Derby
Pack 71's Pinewood Derby Homepage
Race Day
This year, the Derby was held at Grace Lutheran Church on February 9th, 2019. There was a great turn out of Scouts, leaders, parents, and siblings as everyone showed up ready to race!
"Be Fast... or Look Good Trying"
The pinewood derby is one of the most popular and successful family activities in Cub Scouting. Pinewood derby cars are small wooden models that Cub Scouts make with help from their families. Then they race the cars in competition. The cars are powered by gravity and run down a track. Every scout can design and build their own "grand prix" car to enter in the race. We use a special program that measures how fast the cars go down the track, and then calculates how fast the car would actually be going if it were full size on a real track. Some of our cars exceeded 200 MPH!
Equal Ground
All entries in the derby will start with the "Official Grand Prix Pinewood Derby Kit" which includes the body, 4 axles, and 4 wheels. All nine pieces MUST be used before the car can race. The kits are sold at the local Scout Shop or online. All active Scouts will receive a kit as a Christmas present in December. Parents and siblings are on their own. Cars may not exceed 5 ounces in weight and must conform to certain size restrictions and specifications. Decorating the cars are up to the imagination of the scouts. The complete set of rules will be available at the Derby Workshops.
Rules
Each year, the rules mostly stay the same as previous years. There are printable rules below available for download.
Derby Workshops
Before the Derby, we had several opportunities to mold and shape the block of pinewood into a mean lean well-decorated racing machine. The scouts are not permitted to use power tools but they are encouraged to design the shape of their cars, sand them, and decorate them accordingly. Parents are encouraged to assist the child but they should let the child do most of the work.
Prizes and Recognition
The Derby is about doing one's best and having fun, so all participants are recognized. But that doesn't mean our race winners won't take home some shiny hardware. We also voted for cars in specific categories such as Most Patriotic or Best Superhero car. We advance the fastest scout from each den to the District Pinewood Derby, as well as the 3 fastest cars in the Pack.
Race Day Structure
Each Scout races against the other Scouts in their Den multiple times, and at the end of the day the Scout with the fastest average time is crowned the victor of their Den. There is also a Family bracket, where siblings, parents, and leaders are able to compete against each other.