Pinewood Derby Rules and Tips

General construction rules and tips

1. Generally, if you keep it simple and use the BSA kit, you won’t have to worry much about whether you comply with these rules. But because we’ve had some exotic designs over the years, these rules are necessary to ensure a level playing field and compatibility with our gear.
2. Pack 442 supplies one BSA Pinewood Derby kit to each scout who wants to compete. Get your scout’s kit from their den leader. Please return any unused kits to your den leader.
3. A simple car can win! Here’s a great video about building a Pinewood Derby car.
4. All car-building activities should be supervised by an adult.
5. Cub Scout should have primary responsibility for the work on the car. The parent should act as an advisor and should not build the car for the Cub Scout.
6. Cars must be new-built this year and may not have raced in a previous Pinewood Derby.
7. A Cub Scout may only enter one car for themself on race day.
8. Only the Official BSA Grand Prix Pinewood Derby Kit may be used. Cars constructed with other kits will be disqualified.

Design competition

1. Each Cub Scout may declare which design category he wants to enter his car in. This year, the design categories are as follows: movies; patriotic; animals; famous vehicles; wildcard (anything goes).
2. These categories will be judged by the scouts.
3. Cars submitted only for the design competition, and not the race, do not have to meet the following racing requirements. They will be identified as not eligible for racing, registered, and impounded in the Pit Area at Check-in.

Racing requirements

1. Maximum weight of the car: 5 ounces. An official weigh-in will be conducted at car registration. Weight may be taken off or added as needed to allow the car to reach the maximum weight limit of 5.0 ounces. Scales may weigh differently, but the Pack scale is the official scale.
2. Maximum length of the car: 7 inches.
3. Maximum width of the car: 2.75 inches.
4. Minimum width between wheels: 1.75 inches.
5. Minimum underbody clearance of the car: 0.375 inches (otherwise, the bottom of the car will drag on the track).
6. Maximum overall height of the car: 4.5 inches.
7. The entire car must stage behind the starting pin.
8. All weight and accessories must be securely fastened to the car. Wheels are the only allowable moving part.
9. Custom parts like fenders, spoilers, windshields, roll bars, and other details are allowed, unless they cause the car to exceed the maximum length, width, or weight specifications
10. Wheels and axles
    1. The wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear axles) may not be changed.The axles may not be moved from their original positions, i.e., the axles must be in the pre-cut slots.
    2. All four wheels are not required to touch the track.
    3. Only the Official Scout Grand Prix Wheels and Axles may be used.
    4. Wheels and axles may not be modified except as follows:
    5. Wheels may be lightly sanded only to remove the mold projection on the tread. This light sanding is the only wheel improvement allowed, and may not reduce the diameter of the wheel. Further beveling, tapering, thin sanding, wafering, or lathe-turning of the wheels will result in disqualification.
    6. The outside diameter of the wheel must remain square or perpendicular with the side of the wheel. This will be verified at check-in.
    7. Axles may be polished, but diameter of head and shaft must be maintained as supplied in the kit. Axles may be permanently affixed to the car.
    8. Only lubrication as shown in the building instruction kit, or lubricants designated as acceptable by Official Cub Scout endorsement, are allowed. Graphite may not be packed into any hubcaps of the derby cars. Any other means of automatic lubrication is prohibited.
    9. Wheel bearings, washers, bushings, sleeves, etc. are not permitted. Nothing may be placed between the wheel and axle, or between the wheel and car body.
    10. In fairness to all participants, any wheels not meeting the above specifications must be replaced.
11. The “quick start bumper” is allowed, but the entire car must be behind the starting line when the race starts.

Inspection & race procedures

1. Be a good sport! No displays of unsportsmanlike behavior will be tolerated. Anyone in attendance showing poor conduct will be disqualified and may be ejected from the venue.
2. Stay for the whole show. If possible, all participants should stay for the whole event. This shows good sportsmanship by supporting your fellow scouts. That said, scouts who can’t attend in person may have another scout race their car for them.
3. Help. Please help our volunteers before, during, and after the race! Help the night before race day is especially needed and appreciated.
4. Early registration & inspection will be the Friday before the race, from 7:00 – 8:00 PM. A racetrack should be available for practice runs. A pit official will supervise all practice racing. Scouts who have registered early can arrive later in the morning on race day.
5. Regular registrations and inspections begin at 8:00 AM on race day. In fairness to all participants and volunteers, no one arriving after 9:30 AM will be permitted to race.
6. Design-award judging begins at 9:30 AM on race day.
7. Races begin at 10:00 AM.
8. Inspection. All cars must be inspected and weighed on the pack scale before the car will be allowed to race. No car may be modified or lubricated after registration and inspection. Numbers will be assigned to each qualifying car.
9. Pit Area. A “Pit Area” will be set up near the racetrack. After check-in and inspection, cars will be secured in the Pit Area and grouped by den and rank. Cars must remain in the Pit Area until the end of the race. Once a car has been placed in the Pit Area, only Cub Scouts and pit officials are allowed in.
10. Repairs. If a car is dropped or damaged in such a way that it will not run, the cub scout may be allowed to repair it under supervision of a race official. But no further lubrication is allowed, and the car must be re-inspected. Any repairs must be performed under the supervision of the pit officials. The start of the next race may not be delayed more than two minutes due to any pending repairs.
11. Lubricants. No oil or grease-type product that may “foul” the track is permitted. Powdered graphite is a common and acceptable lubricant.
12. Gravity power only. The car must be powered by gravity alone. No other force may contribute to the movement of the car.

Heats

1. The preliminary heats will be run by cub-scout rank. The top five fastest cars from each rank-level will proceed to the finals. Medals will be awarded to the three fastest cars in each den. Trophies will be awarded to the three fastest cars in each rank.
2. For the finals, heats will be run, and the fastest times taken. The five fastest cars during the finals will win the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th-place pack-trophies.
3. Heats will be set up for both the rank and pack rounds by the race-timing officials. In both the preliminary and final heats, lane assignments will be rotated to ensure all cars will have raced on all lanes.
4. When notified of their turn to race, the cub scout will go up to the Pit Area and retrieve their car for the race. A pit official will then direct the cub scout to his assigned race area.
5. The starting gate officials will assist the cub scout in placing his car on the assigned lane, but the cub scouts are responsible for lining up their cars on the track. Cub scouts then move to the finish line to watch their cars race.
6. Race-timing officials will be responsible for verifying the order of finish of each heat. If there’s a tie for an award position, the cars involved will race again to determine the finishing order.
7. Lane officials will supervise the return of each car to the Pit Area after the end of each heat.

For leaders

Here’s a list of action items for those leading the event.

1. BSA offers training for Pinewood and I suggest you take advantage of it. Keep in mind, however, we have software to run our heats, etc., so that takes a lot of the work out of it.
2. Here’s a video of what the race looks like: https://www.facebook.com/pack442/videos/1387604341284334/
3. Everything needs to be 100% set up and verified fully functional the night before the event. The venue is reserved.
4. Line-up a truck to transport the gear from our storage unit to the venue the night before the event. Everything you need to find and access the storage unit is in the attached PDF. The unit isn’t far from FUMC. Moving the gear is a two-person job.
5. Last year, we took video of the setup procedure and it’s available on the Pack’s YouTube channel. Check it out.
6. We’ll need a laptop to run the race program that does the heats and stuff. I have one we can use if you don’t. Disclaimer: I know nothing about how to run heats, but I think Todd and the computer software will make that a non-issue.
7. Order and pickup trophies and ribbons for the awards.
8. Tiger dens usually do a bake sale, so recruit a couple parents to help with that.

List of stuff to be sure to bring from the blue lockers at FUMC:

1. Both of the Pack’s projectors.
2. The Pack’s sound PA system.
3. Flags.
4. Extension cords.

From the Pack’s storage unit:

1. The two wooden “caskets” in the storage unit that contain the race track.
2. The cups and tickets used to vote for design categories.
3. The poles and rope-flags to cordon off areas around the track.
4. Anything marked “Pinewood.” This stuff tends to be on the left side of the storage unit as you walk in.

From your own sources:

1. Basic tools
2. Duct tape
3. Laptop
4. Extension cords
5. Patience

Recruit helpers.

Here’s a list of positions we’ll need to fill, some of which we can recruit race day. I’ll ask the other leaders to support you:

1. Pinewood Derby Coordinator
2. Assist. Coordinator
3. Timing System pos. 1
4. Timing System pos. 2
5. Officials-run it
6. Set-up
7. Saturday Registration pos. 1
8. Saturday Registration pos. 2
9. Judging
10. Cleanup pos. 1
11. Cleanup pos. 2
12. Design awards
13. Bake Sale (Tiger Den)
14. Pit Crew pos. 1
15. Pit Crew pos. 2