Pinewood Derby 2013

This past Saturday was the kickoff for the 2013 Pinewood Derby. There were 18 little boys competing for 1st through 6th place and it was intense. Scott and the boys have been working on their cars for the past two weeks. This is our first time to compete in the Pinewood Derby, so we did not know all of the little secrets to making your car go faster. We were able to do a few things to the cars that we thought might help, but since it was our first year, we knew we would have to wait and find out if they really worked or not.

It was a beautiful day and all of the little boys in our troop were excited. Shaun and Mason signed their cars in to be measured and weighed and then waited for the race to begin. Honestly, I think I was just as excited as they were and I know that Scott was jumping up and down on the inside. It was one of my favorite things that we have all done together as far as Cub Scouts are concerned. My parents even came out. Dad offered to be Shaun's pit manager next year and wants to help him build his car.

The race began and Shaun's car was drawn to be in the first race and Mason's car was drawn to be in the second race. Both of the boys won 2nd place during their first races and were so excited to have not come in last. In the end, both of the boys had won 1st place at least once and Mason was able to place 6th place overall. He will be going to Regionals in February. We are excited for him and can't wait to see him in action. We plan on working on his car a little more before the race to see what we can do to make it even faster.

Here are a few tips we received at the race from the 1st and 2nd place contestants.

1. Put all of the weight towards the back
2. Have a sleek body style
3. Cover your car w/ something like polyurethane for a smoother surface
4. Build your car so that only 3 out of 4 wheels touch the ground

Here are a few pictures from the race. Mason's car is black with orange pin stripes and orange flames. Shaun's car is green with orange flames.