Pinewood Derby Rules

To provide a fair race environment for all participants, please find the following Pinewood Derby construction rules.  Each car must pass inspection by the Inspection Committee before competing in the race.  The inspectors have the authority to disqualify any pinewood derby cars which do not meet the racing specifications outlined below.

Pre Race Inspections will be conducted on Thursday, January 17, 2018, at 7 PM in the Lakewood Elementary School commons.
The Pinewood Derby Race is Saturday, January 19, 2018, at Church of the Resurrection 13720 Roe Ave, Leawood, KS. Room B206.
Race Check In Time: 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM  No Check-ins allowed after 9 AM!
Race Time: 9:15 AM to 12:00 PM
Bring: Your Race Car and the entire family. We will start the Den races around 9:15 AM. Once those races are finished we will hand out the den and category awards. Anyone who wishes to leave after the announcements and awards are free to do so. We will then start the finals. The finals will consist of the top 18 cars from the den races. Proceeding to 12 and then to 6 for the finals.

General Rules and Regulations:

·The car must be built from components of the Official Cub Scout Grand Prix Pinewood Derby Kit.  This rule will be strictly enforced.  Kits from other retailers are not acceptable. Race ready cars purchased on the internet are not permitted.  Have fun designing and building a car!

·Every car must pass a pre-race inspection by the Inspection Committee.

·Only dry lubricants are permitted.  No wet lubricants will be allowed.  Lubricants must be applied outside the building and before inspection.

·No additional lubrication will be permitted once the car passes through race Final Inspection.

·The wheelbase cannot be extended or altered in any way.  No Exceptions!

Dimensions:

·Width: Overall width shall not exceed 2 3/4 inches.

·Length: Overall length shall not exceed 7 inches.

·Weight: Overall weight shall not exceed 5.0 ounces.

·Height: Overall height shall not exceed 6.0 inches to clear under the finish line.

·Wheelbase: Must remain as it comes in the BSA kit - 4 3/8 inches.

·Bottom Clearance: Minimum clearance is 3/8 inch to clear center guide rail height.

·Inner Wheel Width: Minimum width between wheels is 1 3/4 inches.

·The forwardmost portion of the car must be touching and behind the starting gate peg.

Axles:

·Axles must remain stock dimensions as supplied in the Official Cub Scout Grand Prix Pinewood Derby Kit.

·Axles may be smoothed and polished to remove imperfections.

·No bushings, springs, bearings, sleeves, washers or inserts may be attached to the wheels, axles or the body in any way.

·No one piece connecting axles are permitted.

·Axles must be inserted using the axle slots on the bottom of the BSA kit.  Don’t cover this area.

Wheels:

·Wheels supplied in the Cub Scout Grand Prix Pinewood Derby Kit must be used.

·The pre-cut axle slots on your pinewood derby block must be used in their current location and spacing – 4 3/8” inches.  You cannot relocate the wheelbase closer to the front or back end of the original block and still maintain an overall length of 7 inches.

·Wheels may be sanded, shaved or polished to remove mold casting burrs and imperfections on the tread of the wheel to true the roundness of the wheel.  The tread of the wheel must remain flat.

·The small detailed marks/dots on the outside edge of the wheel must remain visible around the entire circumference. All molded words must remain visible on the outside and inside of the wheel.  

·Polishing the axle hole and slight coning the wheel hub is permitted.

·No reshaping, crowning, tapering, H-cutting, V-cutting, narrowing or any other modifications to the tread surface is permitted.  Only truing the roundness of the wheel.

·The car must be freewheeling and exclude any starting devices.

·Car must have four wheels and axles mounted using the BSA pre-cut axle slots.

·No reducing the thickness of the hub shaft or inside wheel surface is allowed.

·Only dry lubricants are permitted.

Weight:

·The maximum weight of the pinewood derby car is 5.0 ounces on the district race scale.

·All weight must be securely attached.  Any weight that falls off during the event is subject to the race officials allowing it to be reattached.

·Make sure all weight attached underneath the car clears the track. The bottom clearance is 3/8” inch to run freely.

·Loose materials of any kind are not permitted and will be removed.

Detailing:

·Use your imagination when detailing your car.  This can be the best part of the build.

·Make certain that details do not cause your car to exceed the dimension and clearance specifications outlined above.  

·Verify that all details are securely fastened to the car. Those that fall off during the event are subject to the race officials allowing it to be reattached.

·Loose materials of any kind are not permitted and will be removed.

·The overall height limit is 6 inches to clear under the finish line timing system.

Inspection:

·Each car will proceed through an inspection process to provide a fair race environment for all participants by verifying compliance with all stated build dimensions.  The inspection process may include, but is not limited to:

·Measure clearance for the center guide rail: Each car must freely roll over a piece of Plexiglas to verify center guide rail clearance both width and height.  No wheels may roll in this area to protect the electronic timing device from damage.

·Measure overall car length and width: Each car will be measured with an inspection scale to verify that the car does not exceed the overall length and width guidelines.  

·Measure the axle slot distance.  Leave the axle separation and position on the bottom of the block stock.  A blank BSA block will be laid on the underneath side to verify that the axles slot location and distance has not been altered.  

·Weigh the car utilizing the official scale for Pack 3449

·The inspection team has the right to disqualify any car that does not meet these construction standards.  

·Car owners will be notified of violations noted during the inspection and given the opportunity to modify the car to these rules. The car will then need to begin the inspection process over.  All modifications must be completed prior to the close of the inspection period. You may be asked to return to the end of the registration line to begin the inspection process again.  

·On race day, once your car passes final inspection, it will be placed in a pre-race staging area which will be accessible only by race officials.

·No additional lubrication will be permitted once the car begins race night inspection process.

Repairs:

·Please be prepared with any supplies you may need to complete basic repairs.

·If a car suffers a mechanical problem requiring repairs and the race results are impacted by on-track contact, the heat race will be re-run and the owners of the cars will be permitted to repair the cars as long as the repairs can be performed in less than 5 minutes.  The race officials will have the option of moving to the next heat and returning to run the re-run race subject to the ability of the software race schedule.

·If a car suffers a mechanical problem not caused by interference from another car and the results of the other cars are not impacted by the problem, the race results will stand.  The owner of that car may repair their car as noted above.

·The race official will determine if the car is ready to race and does not exceed any dimension or clearance specifications.  

Track Equipment:

·42 foot aluminum track with six lanes from Best Track.

·Smart Line Finish Line timer system from eTek Gadgets.

·Grand Prix Race Management software.

·Equipment provided by Patrick Liekhus.

Scoring Method:

Speed is the ultimate method of scoring.  Using this track, timer and software package, we are able to capture your cars time in each of the individual lanes.  Each car is racing against the clock - not directly against the other five cars running the same heat.  For the “All Pack” racing, cars will run six heats (once in each lane) per round.   The race schedule and pairings are calculated and randomly assigned by the race management software based on the number of entrants.  Results are automatically uploaded into the race management software.   Based on the number of entrants in the Pack 3449 race, the race committee will determine the number of rounds needed and the number of cars that continue racing to recognize the winners. Each round will include fewer race cars than the previous round. Cars with the lowest cumulative times in that round will move forward until a champion is recognized.

Design & Craftsmanship Winners:

In addition to racing, we will also have judging for “Best Of” categories that include:

·Most Authentic

·Most Unique

·Funniest

·Best Paint Job

·Most Futuristic