Pinewood Derby

Pinewood Derby News

We are excited to be able to host an in person Pinewood Derby again! We welcome all young racers to the 2023 Pinewood Derby, otherwise known as the greatest race on earth! We will have a lot of potential racers vying for that elusive spot in the winner’s circle! Or maybe you just want to make a cool car and see it go! There will be prizes in multiple categories, as well as the fastest, so have fun building and decorating. For the best racers, they move onto the National Derby Race!

Events Schedule

Pinewood Derby Race – Saturday February

The Pinewood Derby Race will occur during our February at St. Andrews Church

Rules

The rules are intended to provide a fair fun race for the scouts.  The basic rules are:

• Cars must be built this year and not re-used from previous years
• Use an official BSA Pinewood Derby kit, and not a PineCar or other kit
• Weight: Cars must weigh no more than 5 ounces as weighed on the official scale.
• Width: Cars must be no wider (with wheels) than 2.75″
• Length: Cars must be no longer than 7″.  There is no minimum other than the wheelbase requirement below.
• Wheelbase: Cars must have a wheelbase of between 4″ and 4.5″
• Ground clearance: At least 3/8″ from the bottom of the wheels to the lowest part of the car other than the wheels.
• Wheel treads must not be modified in any way.
• The car should be substantially built by the scout, with assistance from the parent.  The parent shouldn’t build the car for the scout!

For the detailed rules, please refer to the BSA Pinewood Derby Rules

Alternate Locations to Go For Help

The web is full of some great resources for designing and building your car with your Cub Scout.  Here are a few of our favorites:

• Use Science to Build the Fastest Pinewood Derby Car.  A former NASA engineer explains how you can use science to build a fast Pinewood Derby car
• Dremel Car Designer.  You can pick a design and download the template for copying to your car block.  Makes it really easy to get started with your car design.
• Michaels. They have a section of Pinewood Derby cars, paints, decals, books, graphite, axles, etc.