2020 Pinewood Derby
Pack 377 Pinewood Derby Information
This page has 3 sections of information. Check out all three!
Race Day Details
Where: Don Schumacher Racing (DSR)
1681 E Northfield Dr. # A, Brownsburg, IN 46112
**Enter via the side door on the South side of the building**
When: Saturday, January 25, 2019
Registration/Check-In: 12:30pm-1:00pm (NOTICE: late Check-In’s may not be able to be accommodated due to complexity of generating the racing schedule)
Estimated Program Start: 1:15pm
Estimated Race Start: 1:30pm
*Estimated* Race Finish: 4:00pm
*Estimated* Race Finish: 4:00pm
Who is invited: Scouts and friends and family
Seating: ***BRING your own folding chairs*** or sit on the cold, hard floor
Admission: Each attendee (scout, friends, family) is asked to kindly bring a Food Pantry donation item
Note: If a parent would like to help with setup and track assembly, join the setup crew who will be there early at 9:30am (no need to RSVP to help with setup, just show up!).
Car Specifications
Width: The finished car cannot be wider than the width of the wooden block with included wheels attached. This is approximately 2.75 inches. Additionally, in certain places, the width of the finished car can be as narrow as you want except in the areas at the front and rear wheels are attached with included nails (minimum width of wooden block between wheels is 1.75 inches).
Height: There is no minimum height **except be careful what you add to the underside of the car, because you need to leave clearance so the underside of the car doesn’t drag on the track**. There also is no maximum height except that the a car that is too ‘tall’ may not pass under the finish line gate sensor. I don’t know what that exact max height is…but you’d have to add a lot of extra height on top of the wooden block to cause a problem – and has not been an issue in previous derbies.
Length: Maximum length is 7 inches which is the length of the uncut block. The car that is shorter than 7 inches, but it is typically not recommended to be too much below 7 inches because…physics. Shorter cars don’t go as fast. If you decide to shave some length off the car, you cannot modify the “wheel base” or distance between front and rear nail/axle slots. That must remain equal to 4.5 inches.
Weight: Can be any weight as long as not over 5.0 oz. Strongly recommended to get as close to or spot-on 5.0 oz as weight (mass) is a key controllable factor in potential speed of a car. However, be careful because cars weighing over 5.0 oz will not pass weigh-in.
Note: At Registration on Derby Day, each car will be checked for weight, width, height, and track clearances before being “Qualified”. If a car does not qualify, the Scout will have a chance to make adjustments. Once a car is qualified, it cannot be accessed for any repairs or adjustments. It must be run as-is for the 8 different times it will run on the track (once per lane over 8 lanes).
Once all cars are checked-in and registration is closed, a master race schedule is created. The schedule will show which 8 scouts are racing (a “heat”) and which 8 scouts are up next or “on deck”. When it is his turn, the scout will be told which lane they are about to race in and will be handed his car to place on the track. The boys step to the side of the track to get a good view of the race! After each heat, the boys take a seat until they are called up to race again.
Each car will run 8 times (once per lane of our 8 lane track). While the actual racing activity will occur at the Pack level (across all ages), the Awards/results will be based on Cub Scout Rank in 5 groups (Lion/Tiger; Wolf; Bear; Webelos; Arrow of Light). Each of those 5 groups will have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophy winner. Additionally, there will be an overall “Pack Grand Champion” who has the fastest overall car regardless of age/rank.
While the cars will be raced 8 at a time, they are moreso racing for time rather than racing each other. In other words, it is not elimination style racing. We use race management software to keep generate a race schedule and keep track of all times for all cars. The software determines places by averaging the 7 best times of each car (worst time is dropped).