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First Pinewood Derby Presents Challenges
Dec 05 2008 by Sara Lacey
Parents of Cub Scouts know all about the Pinewood Derby; it’s like the prom for Scouts. It’s the event of the year, people, and these dads, er, Scouts don’t mess around. As a mom who writes about and review cars for a living, you’d think I’d know my way around the Pinewood Derby. Not true. My family’s first mistake was underestimating the derby’s competitiveness.
The derby is a race run with cars that each scout has chiseled, sanded and assembled out of a block of pine. These blocks come in kits that also include wheels and axles. Each scout gets the same kit, then modifies it to make the car as fast as possible.
The science behind the Pinewood Derby is staggering, and it’s kind of cultish. My husband found that only people who weren’t competing in the derby would talk about their racing secrets, including using graphite to make axles spin faster, weighing down the car in strategic spots and using attachments that give an edge at the starting line. That’s just the beginning; there’s even a “Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets” DVD by a physics professor, I kid you not.
Do these tricks make any difference at all? I mean, it’s not like they measure the results to hundredths or thousandths of a second, right? Wrong. So, so wrong. Our pack rented a steel Pinewood Derby track that was connected to a computer and measured results to the thousandth of a second. The results were displayed almost immediately on a big screen for all to see. It’s serious and a load of fun. My son, Liam, was so proud of his car. He and my hubby had so much fun building it together and looking forward to the race.
Liam won a few heats and was pretty proud. His sister, Claudia, even made a Hello Kitty car for the Siblings Race and did pretty well. My favorite portion of the derby was the Coolest Car contest; kids who designed different-looking derby cars — such as a pencil car, a bathtub complete with blue-plastic water and a school bus — had the chance to win a prize.
Next year Liam plans to sand the contact points between the axles and wheels to reduce friction. Next year, it’s on.
the pine wood derby is one of the only things i remember from scouts. i had so much fun building the cars, and it is true. my dad and i would scheme for weeks to try to make the fastest car. never could figure it out though.