Pinewood Derby

Pack 207's 2022 Pinewood Derby Homepage

Race Day

The Derby will be held at Wesley Methodist Church on Friday, April 8th, 2022. Opening Ceremony will start at 6:30 pm with the races beginning shortly after. This is a family event so bring the siblings, grandparents, uncles, cousins, and anyone else who might enjoy the race.

Registration

All Pack 207 Scout cars must be checked in by the Scout that owns the car. If the Scout is not there with the car, it will not be accepted at that time. Scouts will have their photo taken with their car, to be loaded into the Pinewood Derby Race Software. You will then go through the Inspection Station, where the car will be fully inspected to ensure it meets all the rules. All rules must be followed, as we need to ensure it's a level playing field for everybody. The car must be the one provided by Pack 207 leadership. If there are any failures, you will have time to correct the car and get it re-inspected. Once a car successfully passes inspection, nobody except for the Pit Crew will be allowed to touch the car until after the races are finished on Friday evening. The Pinewood Derby Pit Crew has the final say on the rules and whether a car passes inspection. If the car fails to pass inspection, it can be entered into our Family Race instead so the Scouts can still compete and have fun at the event.

"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.

Race Day Highlights

There will be three divisions...

  1. Pack 207 Scouts - This will be for the current Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos and Arrow of Light Scouts to race against each other. Each car will race 6 times (once per lane). Their overall time will be the average of the 5 fastest races of the night (slowest time of the night gets tossed out).

  2. Family Race - This will be for any siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, etc.... that wish to build a car and race it for pride. Cost to enter the Family Race is $5. If you need a car, we can get you one for $5 extra cost.

  3. Fast Championship - The fastest Scout cars of the event will compete in an elimination style race. Cars will be eliminated until only 1 Champion remains.

Prizes and Recognition

The Derby is about doing one's best and having fun, so all children participants will be recognized. But that doesn't mean our race winners won't take home some shiny hardware. Each rank will receive its own First, Second, and Third place winner trophy based on time. There will be a trophy awarded to the winner of the Fast Championship.

Car Building

Parents are encouraged to assist the child but they should let the child do most of the work. It is very easy and common for Dad or Grandpa to want to build the fastest car possible for their Scout to race. We highly encourage you helping your Scout, and having a great bonding time using tools and building a fast car. But the Scout should be doing as much as they possibly can for their age. Every Scout needs to especially know which car is theirs.

Equal Ground

All entries in the derby will start with the "Official Grand Prix Pinewood Derby Kit". The kit includes the body, 4 axles, and 4 wheels. All nine pieces MUST be used before the car can race. Any cars that were purchased off the internet, or were built with a pre-built kit, will not be accepted into the races. Many of these cars are obvious when showing up for inspection, so lets avoid that issue. If you need a new/replacement car, you must check with Pack Leadership to obtain one at $5 cost.

All active Scouts will receive a kit as a present in December. Parent and siblings can purchase extra if they order 2 weeks before weigh in's.

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 kids. The complete set of rules (along with a quick FAQ) are available at the below link.

Printable Rules

2022 Pinewood Derby rules can be downloaded below.