My fondest memory of Cub Scouts was the Pinewood Derby. We didn't win a trophy, but I remember the race and even more working on the car with my dad. I still have all 3 cars (no Tiger Cubs back then).
We want the boys and their dads to work together and have fun making their cars and racing them. Our race is a few weeks or less after the Blue & Gold Banquet in early March. Our Pack rules are the same as for the Dogwood District.
Derby Rules
The cars are registered on Friday night before the race on Sunday. After registration they are judged for Beauty/ Design and Uniqueness/ Originality. They are stored at the church until Sunday.
We use the
Partial Perfect N-Chart Generator from
Pope's Pinewood Pages Portal (which is a great source of information for building a fast car and running a Pinewood Derby) for our Pinewood Derby. This sets up a series of heat races for points. Each boy will run 6 races total (2 races on each of the three lanes). Their points are totaled by the computer and we award overall and den awards for Speed, Beauty/ Design, and Uniqueness/ Originality.
The top three boys for our Pack in each of the three categories Speed, Beauty/ Design, Uniqueness/ Originality are eligible to participate in the Dogwood District Pinewood Derby.
For Pinewood Derby Committee members, the time commitment is 1 1/2 to 2 hours on Friday for set up, registration, and judging. Sunday usually takes 3 to 4 hours for everything. The Committee chair oversees the race (especially the scoring) and gets the trophies beforehand (from
Johnny O's Awards, they keep the previous receipts).
This is how we are doing things now, but of course it is not the right way or even the best way for the future.