Pinewood Derby
Overview
Every year, each cub scout builds their own pinewood derby car from a box of parts with supervision and support from their adult partner. There are strict rules to follow when building your own pinewood derby car. There are some techniques that can be used to make a speedier car. The best part of it is watching your child be proud of what he built. The scouts race their cars at a pack wide event on a long metal track that measures their speed and time. The top few winners go on to compete at a district wide competition.
The box of parts including a block of wood, four plastic wheels and four nail-axles can form the basis of memories that stay with a person through a lifetime. A wooden block, cut and sanded just right, is carried by 4 wheels down a inclined track guided by a strip of aluminum propelled only by gravity. The race is not the finale of the of the experience and shouldn't be regarded as the only reason the car was built. The whole experience is a lesson in planning, work, cooperation, and patience. Hopefully it will seed fond memories of the time that Dad or Mom and I built the Pinewood Derby car and we had fun learning together.
History
Cub Scout Pinewood derbies originated with races first held in Manhattan Beach, California with Pack 280C in 1953. They have since been incorporated into many organizations from religious youth groups and YMCA's to corporate sales competitions in multi-million dollar companies. Now, over 40 million Cub Scouts have participated in a pinewood derby. Whether they're called Pinecar, Shape-N-Race, Pinewood Derby or just Derby the basic concept hasn't changed.
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