How do people build these fast cars

[rpenning]

How do they build these cars that run in the 3.00 to 3.3 range and are legal? Am i missing something? I followed the plans but my car not my sons did not run at all like i expected it to.

[Murph]

Your post is a common question from scouts and parents. I have managed many BSA PWD Races and always seen several cars that just smoke.

Are they legal? Maybe. Depends how tight the rules are. The common ideology is that "If the rules do not define a certain area, it is legal.

Case in point: Our rules say you must use BSA wheels. It says nothing about purchasing 1 gram wheels that are made from BSA Wheels. Consequently, he could put a set of Derby Worx Ultra Lites on the car and the inspectors would have to allow the car to race.

My son has come in second and third a district and council. Could we come in first? The answer is yes but we have elected to take the conservative route up to this year.

My son is building a stocker for PWDR Pro Racing. Our rules are very "open ended". He could enter that car in the BSA race and would be legal by the current rules.

Let me know your thoughts!
Murph

[rpenning]

I do draw the line are buying all those expensive modifyed wheels legal or not. I know people do that and buy those especial axles but much of what i see are cars that do not always use those super modifyed things.

[Murph]

I have tried to implement some rules that had a little more definition over the last three years to no avail. These rules are pretty simple and are not of "Nascar" granularity.

Note: Note just because you have expensive wheels does not mean you will be fast. Alignment is the most important part of having a smokin' fast car.

If you want to get more speed, you and your son should keep working on the car to unlock that additional 0.020+ seconds!

Take care,
Murph

[Murph]

Here is some interesting information on Cub Scout PWD Track Times.....

These are the results of our 2010 Pack Race. Racer A and B ended up in a virtual tie.
Racer B was my Son, Shawn. Racer A was Scout who had his car thrown-out by his mother, before the race. He came over the night before and we helped him build another.


Here are the 2010 District Results. Shawn came in second and got beat by 0.027 seconds
3.5122
3.5338
3.5667
3.6096
3.6101
3.6329

Here are the results of the 2010 Council Race. Shawn came in 3rd here. The time between the first place car and Shawn was 0.011 seconds.
1 2.4237
2 2.4300
3 2.4357
4 2.4370
5 2.4550
6 2.4653
7 2.4737
8 2.4793
9 2.4843

In 2011, Shawn won district by 0.025 seconds.

In 2011, Shawn came in second in council and got bet by about 0.060 seconds. That was huge. The car that beat him could have run very well in the Stock Class at PWDR.