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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.
User Comments
Have you seen the new Subaru commercial? They have boys doing the pinewood derby, but they have Brownie vests on. Doesn’t anyone at Subaru, or their Ad Execs know what the cub scout uniform looks like? Hello!
yes…WHY WHY WHY are the little boys wearing brownie vests?????
The Boy Scouts of America evidently decided not to let them use their trademarked logos or uniform (more likely, Subaru wouldn’t pay to use it in their commercial).
This information came directly from a district Boy Scout executive.
I did not see that ad, I’m gonna go look it up!
Perhaps it is an act of pure marketing genius…after all, would there be nearly as much buzz about a Subaru commercial without such a blatant “error?” Personally, I’d never thought twice about one of their ads until I saw this one, but I have since mentioned this ad—and the name “Subaru”—to nearly every scouting mom in the neighborhood. Not a bad viral tactic (although it still doesn’t make me want to run out and buy one of their cars).
What a great Subaru ad! Brought back so many memories.
Still laughing about the ‘uniform’ uproar, though! The things people work themselve up about. hah, hah!
Funny that all those years when I was in scouts and even getting my Eagle Scout Award I somehow never learned pettiness, defensiveness or sexual insecurity. They must be new merit badges.
So, the BSA would not let them use their uniforms, so they went online & bought random patches from a Girl Scout shop. That is a Brownie vest, and the felt tabs are from both Brownies, and Cadettes/Seniors, and they also have Cad/Sr IPs on them, and a Troop Crest which has been dyed to be brown instead of green. They dyed the IPs too. I’ve been a GS leader 20 yrs & I know what I am looking at.
The Girl Scouts have a policy about not using Girl Scouts (or their uniforms) to help sell anything other than GS cookies, so they would not have given Subaru permission either. The ad agency pirated the Girl Scout stuff.
Waiting for the lawsuit.
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.