Pinewood Derby Jobs

All the things to make Pinewood Derby Happen

Pinewood Derby is one of the biggest events of the cub scouting year, held in January.

KIT PURCHASE & DISTRIBUTION (1 person, 1 hour)

Kits should be given to den leaders in October or November.

Pinewood Derby kits can be purchased online (may have to pay for shipping) or from the scout shop on Julien Street.

Kits should be brought to the October or November den leader meeting and given to each den leader.  If a leader does not come to the meeting, you are responsible for getting the kits to that den.

Extra kits should be purchased for siblings (~15 is typically enough) and the den leaders should take those as well.

TROPHIES (1 person, 1 hour)

Frankie’s Awards @ 2756 S Bascom Ave, San Jose

Call Frankie’s in early December to order the trophies:  408-377-6883

There are 11 trophies awarded:  1st & 2nd place for Tigers, 1st & 2nd place for non-Tigers, and 7 non-speed categories.  Frankie’s has history on what we buy each year and you simply have to call them to re-order the same thing as the previous year and then pick them up in late December or early January.

DISTRICT RACE LIAISON (1 person, 2 hours)

Each year, the top two Tiger cars and the top two non-Tiger cars with the fastest times can choose to race at the Pioneer “District Race,” typically held the beginning of February.

Information about the district race (date/time/location, online registration, cost, rules, etc) can be found on the svmbc.com web site.

At the end of the Pack 556 race, one parent of the four families heading to the District Race needs to volunteer to be the liaison.  This liaison takes the 4 cars home (keep them safe at home, out of reach of any children) and then checks them in for the district race.  The check in for the district race is typically held on a Wednesday night before the district race.  It is similar to the Pack 556 check-in, with the same qualifying rules (weight, all 4 wheels touching, clearance, etc).

PARTICIPANT LIST FOR RACE SOFTWARE (1 person, <30 mins)

Cubmaster Akers built a pinewood derby race program.  It manages the cars (a number assigned to each car and the scout it belongs to), takes timing as input from the race track, keeps track of the top two fastest Tiger and non-Tiger cars, and shuffles cars into lanes A, B, and C for each heat of cars.

The software requires two text files for input:

• Den/rank list (see sample file)

  • Den numbers and their scout rank can be found by a commissioner in TeamSnap. Click on the “Teams” tab to see the full list (don’t forget, there may be a page 2).

• List of scouts with den number (see sample file)

  • A complete list of scouts can be exported from TeamSnap into a .csv file.  You may need to do a bit of manipulation on the file — removing “non-player” den leaders and adults.

  • Use excel to merge the first name, last name, “|” and den number into a single cell (as seen in the sample file).  Save the file as a text file.  Ensure it is formatted properly.

COMMUNICATIONS TO PACK (1 person, 1 hour)

• December: Send an email to the pack with all the nitty gritty details and rules about building the cars.  Simply point to this.

• 2 weeks prior to event: Send an email to the pack with the same online document and a request for volunteers.

• Create a sign-up genius form for 16 volunteers (2 adults for each check-in night; 4 adults for set-up and take-down, 3 judges to decide winners of the non-speed categories, 1 race starter, 2 car coordinators, 1 overall coordinator to double check race results/upcoming car #s, 1 adult to pick up the track from the storage unit and return it at the end of the evening)

• Tuesday before event: Send last email to the pack reminding them to check in their cars on Wednesday or Thursday, plead for any open volunteer positions, and remind them of date/time/location of event.

CHECK-IN NIGHTS (2 adults each night, 3 hours)

There are two check-in nights held Wednesday and Thursday prior to the race, from 6-9pm.  They are typically held at a Cubmaster or Asst Cubmaster’s home nearby.

Each scout checking in a car needs to be entered into the race software:  Name, Den #, and Car #.

Once a car passes the check, it is assigned a number, which is written on a sticker.  The sticker is placed on the bottom REAR of the car.  This helps the race starter know the front from the back of the car (it isn’t always obvious).

Each car is checked against these rules (more details in this document):

• weight

• length, width, and height

• all 4 wheels roll

• clearance for the race track

It is best to have 1 adult help the Cubmaster with the car checks.  The second adult helps scouts “fix” their cars when they don’t pass the checks – removing weight, adjusting wheels, gluing broken pieces, etc.  This person should have experience with building and fixing derby cars and comfortable with tools.

RACE NIGHT SETUP & TAKE-DOWN (4 adults, 2 hours prior to race, 45 mins after race)

TRACK SET UP

<pictures and instructions from David Akers>

If the pack meeting starts at 6:30pm, it is best to have the set-up crew arrive about 4:30-4:45pm.  The derby track should be brought in a Suburban or long-bed truck from the storage container to Daves Ave at 4:30pm.

The track is typically set up at an angle across the room (starting end toward the left side of the stage;  finishing end pointing toward the exit doors near the one-lane road.

ROOM SET UP

• Chairs

  • Ask the janitor to unlock the chair rack so parents can sit down.

  • Chairs line either side of the track for parents to sit on.  There is enough space in front of the chairs for scouts to sit on the floor.

• Tables

  • Two tables should be set up in front of the room, parallel to the stage – one holds the trophies and one holds the computer system.

  • Two tables should be set up in the front left corner of the room.  The cars should be set out, on towels, in order by car number.

• Barricades (painted blue stands + streamers) are set up to keep people away from the track or from jumping over it.  There is enough space between the track and the barricade to allow for a single scout to carry cars from the finish line to the starting line.

• A screen and projector are needed to display the real-time race results.

• The sound system should be set up on stage behind the screen (with speakers off to each side of the screen).

CAR SET UP

• Cars are best laid out in rows (first row is 1-9, second row is 10-19, third row is 20-29, etc).  This makes it easy for the 2 car coordinators to find the car # they need quickly.

RACE NIGHT LOGISTICS

This is a wild night, so be ready!

Every car as a number stuck to the bottom rear of the car.  (It is put at the rear so that the race starter knows the front from the back — it isn’t always obvious!)

Cars are raced in groups of 3.  Starting with a Tiger den, the first 3 scouts’ cars (in alphabetical order) are pulled from the car table and a heat is run.  Each of the cars race in 3 heats.  This way, each car has an opportunity to race in each of the 3 lanes.

NOTE: The cars are not run in order by number.  So when the first Tiger heat is run, it may pull car #42, #61, and #9.  This is why there are 2 car coordinators — to quickly find the needed cars for each heat.

How the heats run:

• The software assigns each car # to lane A, B, or C for each heat.  The race starter is responsible for ensuring the cars are in the correct lane, double checking one more time, and placing them in the starting gate.

• The person running the software gives the OK that s/he is ready, the starter triggers the gate, the timer starts, and the cars fly down the track.

• A Webelos (in a bright orange vest) carefully places the cars from the finish line in the padded box and brings them back up to the starter.

• The software shuffles the cars to different lanes.  The race starter is again responsible for placing the cars in the correct lane and starts the second heat.  This repeats for the 3rd heat.  The three cars are placed back on the car table and the next set of 3 cars are ready to go.

The software is constantly calculating the fastest two Tigers times and the fastest two non-Tiger times.  We have the top scouts sit in chairs on the stage to bask in all the glory.

After all the scouts’ cars have raced, we run the siblings’ cars.  The cars are shuffled so each car runs in each lane.  The sibling times are not recorded in the software program