11/5/2016
2017 Powhatan District
Pinewood Derby
Contents
• Values and Objectives of the Pinewood Derby
• District Derby Logistics and Considerations
• Competitions
• Key Car/Cake-Building Considerations
• Guidance on Conducting Pack Pinewood Derbies
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Church of the Epiphany
3301 Hidden Meadow Drive
Herndon, VA 20171
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Values and Objectives of the
Pinewood Derby
Values and Objectives of the
Pinewood Derby
• What Scouting goals does the pinewood derby help
a Scout achieve?
• Remember the Pinewood Derby is only a game and an
opportunity to do one’s best, to take part in something
special with friends, and to show good sportsmanship win
or lose
• Work on the racer should be done by the Cub Scout, not the
parent
• Parents should read and understand the rules of the Derby,
and teach the Cub Scouts that we are expected to live not
just by the letter but also the spirit of the rules
• In the Derby, as well as in life, there are times of setback,
and setbacks are just new challenges to overcome
• Teach them to accept outcomes with good grace and humor
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• Personal achievement comes to any boy who picks up a
woodworking tool and shapes raw wood into a racer
• Sportsmanship and good citizenship is taught by
following the derby rules and cheering on friends and
den partners as they race against others in the pack
• Family understanding is enhanced because building a
pinewood derby car puts the boy and his mom, dad, or
other adult partner into a close and sometimes intense
learning experience over, potentially, many hours
District Derby Logistics and
Considerations - Registration
• Fee - $10
• Register via NCAC website;
online registration will close
11 pm on Thurs, 3/2
• Please come early during
your rank's check-in time-once the race starts, entry is
not possible
Rank
AoL (Web II*)
Check-in Race
08:30
09:00
Webelos (Web I) 09:30
10:00
Wolf
12:00
Bear
Tiger
10:30
11:30
12:30
*LDS Webelos race during this time
11:00
1:00
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District Derby Logistics and
Considerations - Race
• Races will take about 1 minute per scout at each rank
(e.g., 25 scouts = 25 minutes) to race across 3 lanes
• After each heat, there will be a pause to confirm the
heat was valid; concerns must be raised at that time
• Once the race is concluded there will be a
certification and then awards will be given
• After all races are concluded, an overall speed (fastest
across all ranks) winner will be awarded at the
winner’s Pack meeting
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District Derby Logistics and
Considerations - Location
• Church of the Epiphany
• Race
Traffic Flow
• 3301 Hidden Meadow
Drive, Herndon, VA
20171
• Traffic flow will be
controlled to keep
scouts safe. The exit is a
low-visibility area
Competitions
Sign
Enter
Sign
Sign
• Competitors: one scout from each rank from each Pack
• Track has 3 lanes, with light sensors
• Racer will race once in each lane, winners determined by
fastest average time across all three lanes
• Rules available on NCAC website
Parking
• Concours
Derby
Entrance
Sign
• Competitors: one scout from each rank from each Pack
• Concours cars may not race
• Equal weighting between 1) originality of design, 2) color and
finish, 3) accessories and decals, 4) use of Cub Scout motif
Exit
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Competitions
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Common Competition Issues
• Bake-off
• Race
• Competitors: one scout from each rank from each Pack
• Bake-off cakes may not race
• Equal weighting between 1) appearance and creativity,
2) texture and taste, 3) apparent level-of-effort, and 4)
use of Cub Scout motif
• Weights not recessed under car
• All four wheels don’t touch
• Car does not meet dimension specifications
• Concours
• Car does not meet race specifications (e.g., too tall or
too long)
• Bake-off
• Cake has inedible parts or parts not commonly eaten
(e.g., leafy crown of pineapple)
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Key Race Competition
Considerations
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Key Race Competition
Considerations
• The rules are very clear, please encourage
everyone to read them before starting their cars
• Encourage everyone to start their cars early
• Please make “experts” available to anyone in your
Pack who might be struggling or have questions
• Race cars must weigh no more than 5.0 ounces. We
will be using a scale accurate to the tenths of an
ounce. The scale display-value will be the rule.
• You can use anything you wish to weight the car
(avoid LEAD) provided that it does not make the car
too tall, wide, or long; and provided that it is firmly
attached
• Do not reduce the clearance under the car--the
clearance is necessary to run properly on the track
• What do I do with this hunk of wood again?
• Rules clarifications
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Key Race Competition
Considerations
Key Concours Competition
Considerations
• Official BSA Pinewood Derby wheels only and ALL
four must touch
• Lubricants
• The rules are very clear, please encourage everyone
to read them before starting their cars
• Each car must pass the same inspection that race
cars do and will be impounded
• Only dry lubricants
• Lubricants will not be allowed in the church at the race
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Key Bake-off Competition
Considerations
• The rules are very clear, please encourage everyone
to read them before starting their cakes
• The entire entry must be edible
• Commercially-available mixes permitted
• Clean-up is the Scout’s responsibility
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Guidance on Conducting Pack
Pinewood Derbies
• You’re part of history!
• First held in 1953 by Cub Pack 280C, Manhattan Beach
California
• First publicized in October 1954 issue of Boy’s Life
• Estimated that 35 million parents and sons (and
counting), and siblings have participated in actual races
• Emphasize the fact that each boy MADE something;
everything else that happens after is gravy…
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Guidance on Conducting Pack
Pinewood Derbies
• It’s hard, but try to offer more opportunities for cubs
to race their cars
• After the official race, let scouts get in line and race
whomever they wish until the time runs out
• All-race
• Other suggestions?
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Finit
• Questions?
• Please do your best to enforce the rules at the Pack
level; we don’t want to have to turn away any scouts
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