Pinewood Derby

What is the Pinewood Derby

The Pinewood Derby is a super exciting event for Cub Scouts! It's a racing competition where Scouts design, build, and race their own small wooden cars. These cars are carved from a block of pine wood and then raced down a track powered only by gravity.


Family and friends are welcome to join and encouraged to cheer on the racers!

Rules and Regulations

The rules and regulations for building and racing a Pinewood Derby car can be found here.

Race Day

Where

The Pinewood Derby will be held at the St Louis Park Middle School.

When

February 22nd (Saturday) with check-in starting at 10AM. We start racing at 11AM.

Length of Event

Approximately 3 hours.

Awards

There will be fantastic trophies for 1st 2nd 3rd overall in speed and artistic design, and 1st place in speed for each den. 

Concessions

There will be food available for a small fee, which goes to supporting the Pack.


FAQ

Where do I get a Pinewood Derby Car Kit?

Pinewood Derby car kits are usually handed out at a Pack Meeting. If you were absent when they were handed out, please send an email to cubscoutpack379slp@gmail.com and we will coordinate on getting you one.

What do I do after receiving the Pinewood Derby Kit?  (Tips)

The Pinewood Derby is a chance for a guardian to connect and work with their cub scout on designing a car. We ask that the scouts build their own cars. This usually requires parent involvement with some of the younger scouts, but the parent involvement should be pretty minimal for the older scouts and really just limited to ensuring safety with tools and general guidance on what to do and how to do it.   

Recommended Resources

Mark Rober This video takes a scientific approach on building your Pinewood Derby car. This is a great starting point if you have never done a Pinewood Derby car.

Scout Shop The Bloomington Scout Shop has additional supplies for your car if you wish to trick out the car beyond what the kit provides.

The Pack Ask your den leader or other leadership in the Pack and they will be more than happy to assist in answering your questions.

Other Tips

Make sure your car weighs as close to 5 ounces as possible, without going over.  From a physics standpoint (see Mark Rober video above), this is really the #1 factor on how fast the car goes down the track.  it is also usually the #1 reason a car fails to make it to the end of the track - which we never like to see.  

Make sure you have proper clearance underneath your car.   Speaking of cars not making it down the track... this is probably the #2 reason that cars fail to make it to the end of the track.  Pinewood derby cars ride over a "rail" - so if you pile on a bunch of weights and stuff underneath your car it will just sit on the rail and not move. (Page 2 of the Rules and Regulations discussed this a little bit as well.  You need at least 3/8" of clearance.)  

What is the Family Race?

In addition to the scout race, we'll be having a Family Race where parents and siblings are allowed to compete.  (We typically do this during "halftime" of the main race.)   So any parents or siblings that wish to race are welcome to do so - they just need to pick up a pinewood derby kit at the Scout Shop in Bloomington, MN.

What does it mean to "check in" on race day?

On the day of the race, scouts need to bring in their car so it can be weighed and assigned a race number. The car must not weigh more than 5 oz during check in or it cannot race. Please reference the Rules and Regulations.

What are some of the categories for Artistic Design?

Some of categories for 2023 were:

Who can I contact if I still have questions?

Email cubscoutpack379slp@gmail.com with your question(s) and someone will reach out.