Pinewood Derby

The Pinewood Derby is one of the most popular events in Cub Scouting, and Pack 825 is no exception! 

 

It's a fun Cub Scout racing event held in many packs, and we hold ours every January. During the event, Cub Scouts race small, driverless wooden cars down a sloped track. The cars are powered only by gravity, and this is where Scouts have to get creative about 

 

With an adult’s help, each Pinewood Derby car is built by a Cub Scout using a kit that includes a wooden block, plastic wheels, and metal axles (i.e., small nails). These are provided to the pack by BSA, and every Scout in the pack receives one free of charge at the December pack meeting. We also host car-cutting clinics over multiple weekends in January, giving Scouts one month to design, cut, sand, paint, apply decals, and finish their cars before race day.

 

The evening before race day is check-in and inspection. All Scouts participating in the Pinewood Derby will need to come and have their cars inspected to ensure they comply with the race rules and to be weighed to ensure that weight does not need to be added to or removed from their cars.

 

We also award trophies for the Top 3 fastest cars, and the best designs voted on by race attendees.

 

Read more: Pack 825's Pinewood Derby Rules

 

Guidelines
The Pinewood Derby is a parent-Scout project. Please feel free to give guidance and minimal assistance to your Scout as he/she builds his/her Pinewood Derby car. This is a chance for your Scout to work with you and enjoy the spirit of friendly competition with his/her peers. It’s also for your Cub Scout to enjoy the satisfaction of building his/her own car from the BSA car kit provided to each Scout. Adults may build their own car for the Sibling/Adult Division. This would be a good opportunity to help your Scout build his/her by providing instruction and an example for him to follow.

 

Good Sportsmanship
Most important is how we act and behave while participating in the Pinewood Derby or any other group activity. This is called sportsmanship. Two things the Pinewood Derby requires each participant to learn are:

  1. Building Skills – The first thing to remember about sportsmanship is that everyone's skills are slightly different. You may be good at something like singing or drawing, but not as good at something else like basketball or computers. Parents have different skill levels, too. You can always be a good Scout whether or not you have good car-building skills. Remember, you and your friends are individuals first and racers second, and we should always respect others.

  2. The Rules – Without rules, there would be no Pinewood Derby. You will never know if you are really good at something if you don't follow the rules. We call this being honest.

  3. Winners and Losers – There are winners and losers in every competition. You accept this when you choose to compete. There may be times when you win and feel happy, and times when you lose and feel unhappy. That's okay because losing is sometimes hard. If you win, you shouldn't brag or gloat. If you lose, you should not feel jealous or bitter. To be a good sport, you need to be able to say "I did my best" and be satisfied with the results. You must also be able to appreciate and feel happy for someone else when they run a good race or build a neat car.