How to Plan and
Conduct a
Pinewood Derby
History
First held in 1953 by Cub Pack 280C,
Manhattan Beach California
 First publicized in October 1954 issue of
Boy’s Life
 Article offered plans for track and cars
“four wheels, four nails, and three blocks
of wood”
 Estimated that 35 million parents sons,
and siblings have participated in actual
races.
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Timeline
Week After Last Year’s Pinewood Derby
Things that worked well
Things that did not work
Six Months Prior to Derby
Pick Race Manager
Decide on Date/Location
Three Months Prior to Derby
Finalize Rules
Distribute Rules
Timeline (Cont.)
2 Months Prior to Pinewood Derby
Make Kits Available
Finalize Layout
One Month Prior to Race Day
Order Trophies/Medals
Hold Derby Workshop
RACE DAY
Setup Track/Pit Areas
Prepare Food / Setup
Location…Location..Location
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Availability
Room for Track
Room for Spectators
Room for Pit Areas
Crowd Control Issues
Food Service / Dining Area
Staffing the Event
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Race Master
Derby Workshop Team
Check-in Team
Weigh-in Team
Pit Crew
Registrar
Crowd Control
Starter
Timer
Master-of-Ceremonies
Maximum Involvement
•
Announce the details of the race at Pack
Meetings (2 Months prior to Race Day)
•
Make sure you have the Pinewood Derby Car
Kits available for purchase at 1 or 2 Pack
Meetings before the race to give Scouts
enough time to build the cars
•
Don’t turn the Pinewood Derby Car Kit Sale
into a fundraiser
•Remember, you want to make sure
everyone participates
The Cars
•
Materials used to make the cars (BSA
Pinewood Derby Car Kits; what’s
allowed and what’s not allowed)
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Car dimensions and weight guidelines
•
Remember, you want to make sure
everyone participates
Derby Workshops
•
How many Pinewood Derby workshops you
will have and where will you have them
•
On what date(s) and time(s) will the
Pinewood Derby workshop(s) be held
•Each workshop should last for 4 to 5 hours
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Which leaders and/or parents will be able to
help conduct the Pinewood Derby workshops
•
Make sure to announce the workshop details
at Pack Meetings
Derby Workshops (Cont.)
•
Which leaders and/or parents have the tools
necessary to conduct the Pinewood Derby
workshops
• You’ll need a band saw, belt sander, hammers,
pencils, safety goggles, sandpaper
• Pick 1 or 2 leaders/parents to man the band
saw; no scouts allowed
• Scouts can use other tools only with proper
supervision from leaders/parents
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Which leaders/parents will be available to help
clean up after the workshop(s)
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Remember, the scouts are supposed to do as
much work on the car as possible
Before the Race
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Determine Check-in and car registration
procedures
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What time can cars be registered
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How many cars can each Scout race
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How many, if any, trial runs is each
Scout allowed
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How many individual races and rounds
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How scouts race each other (Method)
Before the Race (Cont.)
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Sibling participation
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Adult participation
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What happens when there’s a tie
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What category awards are awarded (Best
Design, Most Scout Spirit, Most Patriotic)
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What den place awards are awarded (1st,
2nd)
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What overall place awards are awarded (1st,
2nd, 3rd, 4th)
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Will snacks and drinks be provided during the
race
Race Setup
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Prior to race day, make sure you identify leaders
to help setup the track and verify system used to
determine race winners
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On race day or the night before, setup the track
• Depending on your track, you should allow at
least 4 hours to setup the track and verify
scoring system
• Use some cars from last year to verify track
stability
• Run the same car down each lane to verify lane
equivalence
Race Setup (Cont.)
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After the track is ready to go, make sure to setup
a barrier around the track to prevent Scouts,
leaders, parents, etc. from jumping over the
track (A good idea may be some chairs turned
with their backs to the track)
Decorate the racing area with flags and banners;
give it the racing feel
If you plan to announce the race with a PA
system, verify that the PA system is functioning
properly
Race Setup (Cont.)
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Setup an area that can be used as a last
minute workshop
•Bring your tools (hammers, hot glue,
crazy glue, knife, drill, extra weights)
because someone will need them
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Setup the area where race participants
can register and weigh their cars
•Make sure that the registration and
weigh-in area is isolated from the crowd
Race Setup (Cont.)
Verify that the weigh-in scales are
functioning correctly
 If you can, setup a projection system to
show the audience the places in which
each participant finished each race
 If you’re having snacks and drinks, make
sure you designate an area where snacks
and drinks can be enjoyed away from the
track
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Check-in Procedures
•Make sure the Scouts know what to
do when they first walk in to the
racing area
•Check in cars at check-in area so
registrar can know how many cars
to expect
•Get 1 or more tokens that they can
present to Gate Keeper to allow
them 1 or more trail runs if
permitted
Weigh-in
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Show the Scouts where they can make
last minute adjustments to the cars
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Make sure one or more leaders is
available to help with last minute
adjustments
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Have extra weights and super-glue
available for use
Weigh-in (Cont.)
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When a Scout is ready, ask and help him
place his car on the weigh-in scale to verify
its weight
•If it’s over the weigh limit, he’ll have to
make some adjustments
•If it’s under, you can suggest that he make
some adjustments to get closer to the
maximum allowed weight
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Once a car is weighed in and the Scout is
satisfied with its weight, take the car to
registration and place it along with the other
cars that it will race
Registration
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Determine a way to mark the cars with an
identifying number.
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Grouping cars by category/heat will speed up
car placement.
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Make sure everyone knows the last possible time
to register cars
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Make sure you keep people away from the
registered cars and the track
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Make sure you announce periodically how
much time is left before all cars must be
weighed and registered
Keep them Occupied
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To avoid chaos before the race, plan some
activities in which the Scouts can
participate
•Show a video or slideshow of various
Scouting events in which the Scouts
have participated
•Show a movie the Scouts can watch in a
designated area
•If you’re doing snacks and drinks, let the
audience know that they’re available
Race Method
Single Elimination
 Double Elimination
 Perfect-N
 Stearns Method
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Single Elimination
Only the winner of the heat advances.
 All other cars are ‘eliminated’ but may
compete for 2nd, 3rd place, etc. with other
losing cars.
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Double Elimination
Race the same field of cars twice.
 The ‘winner’ is the car that finishes in the
highest positions of the two races. (1st
and 1st, 1st and 2nd, etc.)
 Can be calculated by best times or by
points. (3 pts. For a 1st place, 2 for 2nd
and 1 for 3rd, etc.)
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Perfect-N Method
Each car races the same number of times
in each lane
 Number of races is a multiple of the
number of cars
 (54 cars X 6 lanes = 510 Races)
 Can be very time consuming but is
considered the ‘most fair’
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Stearns Method
Every car races every other car
 Does not necessarily race on every lane
 Not as time-consuming as Perfect-N
method but can still take a long time
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Race Categories
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By Rank
By Den
Siblings
Adults
Leaders
Specials / Unlimited
Equipment
Official Scale
 Track
 Timer
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The Track
Homemade or Store Bought
 Wood or Aluminum
 The infamous ‘Slow Lane’
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Tracking Heats
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Technology
◦ Pad and Paper & Stop Watch
◦ Excel Spreadsheet & Electronic Timer
◦ Race Management Software with Integrated
Timer
◦ Be Prepared to use ‘Plan B’
BSA Accesories
The Race
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When everything is ready to go, start the
engines and let ‘em fly
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Make sure all leaders are in the places where
they need to be to perform their roles
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Announce to the audience that it’s race time and
explain a few of the procedures the Scouts will
need to follow in order to race their cars
• If and how to retrieve their cars to race
• Where they can stand when their car is racing
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Round by round, announce the names of the
Scouts that are racing
The Race (Cont.)
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Make sure to announce the place in which each
Scout finishes for each race. Even the last
place finisher thinks its cool to hear his name
over a PA system
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Don’t allow the Scouts that are racing to touch
their cars after a race
•Only the leader designated as the car
returner should handle the cars after each
race
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Come up with a transport device to return the
cars back to the starting gate
•A cardboard box with some padding in the
bottom works well
The Race (Cont.)
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After each round, announce the winners for
which you have awards
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Call the Scouts for the next round
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If you’re doing snacks and drinks, keeping
announcing their availability until they are gone
• This gives everyone something to do until it’s
his turn to race
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Make sure to place the cars of first place
finishers together after each round in order to
race the overall round
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After all rounds are completed, call the first place
finishers from each round to run the overall
round
Recognition
Web Resources
Questions