Bridge Point Elementary

Cub Scout Pack 39

A 2007 Quality Unity of the Boy Scouts of America

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PINEWOOD DERBY     

Practice Day:  Saturday, January 26, 2008,  3:00-4:30pm, Bridge Point Cafeteria

Race Day:  Sunday, January 27, 2008, 2-6pm (finish time depends on number of cars entered), Bridge Point Cafeteria 

  • Doors open at 2:00pm for Early Registration and Car Fix-up/Tune-up.
  • Registration line closes at 3:00 or as soon as possible for those in line and on time. 
  • Races begin at 3:00pm sharp

Organizer:  Hank Lydick, 327-3884, hlydick@austin.rr.com

Setup/Cleanup: Den 3   Flag Ceremony: Den 7

Click on the car to the below to see Hemi Thacker's PowerPoint presentation on "How to Make a Fast Pinewood Derby Car"

 

Background

The pinewood derby race is one of Pack 39's most treasured annual events.  Each boy receives a pinewood car kit at the Pack meeting in early December, along with a set of construction rules (included below).  The cub scout & parent design and construct a pinewood race car with the scout doing the bulk of the work (Tigers need a lot of help while Webelos II may need very little).  The race is held at the end of January and is well attended in our Pack.  Trophies are awarded at each rank (Tiger through Webelos II) for speed and for design.  

 

2008 Pinewood Derby Info

The event will be held on Sunday January the 27th at the Bridgepoint Cafeteria at 3:00pm.  There will also be a practice race to test and tune your car on Saturday the 26th from 3:00-4:30pm. Car kits will be distributed at the Airshow on December 10th.  If you miss this event you can obtain the car kit from your Den Leader after December 10th.

For those of you that are new to Scouting and Pinewood racing, this is a great event to spend quality time with your son being creative and scientific in designing your car.  There are many websites that are available that provide design and engineering guidelines to make your cars as fast as possible.  Visit the links below or just Google yourself out:

 

Pinewood Derby Links:  Pinewood "Humor", Pinewood Derby Links

 

Construction Rules

Please read the rules below carefully.  Non-conforming cars will not be allowed to race

New Cars:  All cars must have been made during the current year. No past years' cars or parts from those cars.

Length and Width:  The width of the car shall not exceed 2 3/4 inches. The length of the car shall not exceed 7 inches. (If you want to make a very tall car, which will be very slow, call me. There is a maximum height which will fit under the finish line timer.)

Weight and Appearance:   Weight shall not exceed 5 ounces. The readings of the Official Race Scale will be considered final.

Added details such as steering wheel, driver, spoiler, decals, painting, and interior designs are permissible and encouraged. However, they must be securely fastened. No loose materials (such as lead shot) are allowed.

Cars with wet paint or glue will not be accepted.

Wheels and Axles:   Only the BSA wheels and axles can be used. The wheels must have official Boy Scout logo on them to be approved. No solid bar axles. Axles may be polished. Wheels may be sanded to remove mold projections on the treads, however, the wheels must resemble their original shape when finished, i.e. the treads are flat. No rounded, ridged, beveled or cut-down wheels are allowed.

The car shall not ride on a spring. Axles should be in contact with wood body, e.g., not in a steel sleeve.

Lubrication:  Only Dry Powdered Lubricants, such as graphite, may be used. Cars may be lubricated before inspection. No further lubrication will be permitted during the race, unless express permission is granted by the race officials.

Power:  The car must be freewheeling with no starting devices.

Inspection and Disputes:  Each car must pass inspection by the race officials before it may compete.  The race officials have the right to disqualify those cars which do not meet these rules. The scout and parent will be informed of the rule violation and given an opportunity to modify the car to meet the pack rules. The race committee will review all disputes Their decisions will be considered final. A disqualified car will not race, but it can still be considered for a design prize.

 

Practice and Testing Event – 3-4:30pm Saturday

Come and test your car, make final adjustments, and have a great time with the other Scouts

All racers are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to test their cars on Saturday and finalize the weight and tuning.  There will be no opportunity to test the car on Sunday before the race. It is a very good idea to come on Saturday to see if you need to add or subtract weight or make other adjustments to the car. Cars with weight that juts out on the bottom have been known to stop before the finish line. 

There will be a fix-up / tuning table to help Scouts and parents get their cars just right. Glue guns and lead weights will be provided.  A drill will be available for those cars that need to "lose weight".

IMPORTANT: Over the years we have seen numerous cars damaged (and very upset kids)  by being dropped on Saturday.   Please discuss with your kids the importance of being very careful with their and other peoples cars.

Pre-register your car (optional).  You may register your car on Saturday and skip the registration lines on Sunday.  We will keep your car safe until the race on Sunday. Pre-registration is for those who are going primarily for design or who are satisfied with their cars performance on Saturday.

 

Pinewood Derby Race – 3-6pm Sunday (finish time depends on number of cars entered)

 

Ground Rules and Race Procedures

The Pinewood Derby will be run on Sunday at 3:00pm sharp.  Tiger and Wolf scouts need to arrive by 2:15pm to have their car weighed, measured and registered as their cars will be the first groups to race.  Once a car is weighed and registered only race officials may touch the car. The scout or parent may not touch the car again unless requested to do so.  Bear and Webelos scouts should arrive and have their cars registered by 2:45pm to have their cars entered.

Remember that we have over 100 boys in the pack and that the event, while exciting, does take time.  This year, we expect to have a shorter Pinewood Derby than last year.  This year, each scouts car will participate in one round of competition instead of two.  Each rank (Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos I and Webelos II) will be racing only against scouts from their same rank.

We use electronic timers on the pack's two four-lane metal tracks.  The two tracks' electronic timers are interfaced with computer running the "Derby Master" software package.  This software tool records the times of each car in each race.  Each car will race four times, once down each of the four lanes on its assigned track.  Winners are determined by ranking the four fastest aggregate times for each car.

If a car jumps a track, the race will be re-run.  If a car jumps a track a second time, it will be assigned a time of 15 seconds.  If it interferes with another car, the race will be re-run without the car that jumps the track. 

If a car breaks down, the owner will be given 5 minutes to fix the car.  If it breaks down again, it receives the maximum time of 15 seconds for that race.  If a car breaks down and interferes with another car, the race will be re-run without the car that jumps breaks down.  Please make sure everything is glued on tight!

The top four winners from each rank will advance to the pack Finals. Please be sure to stay around for the final competition, especially if you have placed first, second, third or fourth in your rank.

Awards

Speed Trophies
  • Rank Races
    • There will five races – one for each rank: Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos I and Webelos II.
    • Each car will race 4 times
    • Rank Speed trophies will be given for 1st to 4th place in each Rank
  • Pack Championship Race
    • The top four from each rank will advance to the Pack Championship Race
    • Each car will race 4 times
    • Pack Speed trophies will be presented for 1st to 4th place in the Pack

Design Trophies - As a way to recognize that there are other ways to succeed besides pure speed, there will be an equal number of design trophies to speed trophies.

  • Rank Design trophies 
    • Four design trophies will be awarded for each rank:  Tiger, Wolf, Bear, and Webelos I/II.
    • A group of parents are the judges.  
    • Cars that won Rank Speed awards will NOT be eligible for Rank Design Awards.
  • Scout’s Choice Pack Design trophies – 1st through 4th
    • All the Scouts entered in the race will fill out a ballot picking their favorite car.  Kids should pick the one car they feel is coolest based on whatever they want.
    • All cars are eligible to win both the Pack Speed trophies the Pack Design trophies.
    • The cars will be on display and the ballot box closes after all the Rank Speed Races.
    • The ballots will be tallied up and the car receiving the most votes will be 1st, second most is 2nd, and so on.

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