Cub Scout PWD, When is your race?

[Smokinjoesracing]

I ran this year's District race...very leniant rules. No holes in the wheels. The tread must lay flat. Extended wheelbases, solid front ends. Other than that...Katie bar the door. I had one kid that had arched treads. We let him run but not compete.

[woodenwonder]

Hey guys,
I don't make the rules, I just enforce them. We do have some rules that are stupid because you can't check without pulling wheels off. I have brought the rules I thought should be changed or eliminated to council and they choose to do nothing with them. I also agree that no matter how many rules you have there will always be fast cars and slow cars. But when the rules are black and white then everyone should have to abide by them.

[Buckeye]

I wasn't knocking you, just the whole rule process. It is a shame that rules become such a focus of a Cub Derby. Things like not allowing the hubs to be coned are ridiculous. But getting people to agree to agree isn't an easy task, as we all know.

Hey, if it wasn't for the Pinewood Derby none of us would be here right now.

[Mr. Slick]

I agree that rules need to be followed by all.

Luckily as the District Pinewood Derby Chair for several years now, I have had the luxury of getting rules simplified and some "non-traditional" rules added. . . like, "Rule 1: If a Cub shows up with a car, it will be allowed to race."

To the Cub, the other rules are minor details after this one. :-)

The DQ'ed cars race, but don't get to win trophies or advance to council races. . . I leave that explanation to the parents.

I have also changed it from having each Pack advance the top 5 to having each Pack advance the top 5 Cubs/Webelos AND the top 3 Tigers (unless there are less than 6 Tigers in which case they all get to come to Districts!)

Including Tigers has really helped all the Tiger parents get a much better understanding of the scout organization beyond their den and pack.

[greenhorn]

There has to be rules of some kind. Otherwise we'd see 10lb cars 2 feet long collapsing the tracks. And I like the rule where the cub scout gets to race regardless of whether his car is DQed and/or he is able to get a prize. I also feel the same about the purchased cars and Dad built cars that the scout didn't build at all. We had a few Physics Teacher cars in our pack this year, and a few others, I'll call them ebay cars, and a few cars that were built by a guy here in town that builds cars for sale.

Although we were in the middle of the pack speedwise, my son's car (which he built himself) was runner up in 3 judged categories. 2 of those winners flat out told me at the race (I'm a den leader and helped work the derby) that they bought their cars, and the other one admitted his dad built his car. My son knows he won those 3 categories of the scout built cars, but he was still bummed because he didn't get the prizes.

I don't know how to stop those cars from getting in, but it's a real shame the parents do this. And being a den leader, it gives me a headache thinking about what it teaches the boys. Especially after what I've been trying to teach them all year.

[Smokinjoesracing]

Let me elaborate a little on our rules. We still require the basic rules in the body...5oz height, width, length, solid nose and clearance etc. We allow juiced up wheels with some exceptions. They must be flat all the way across. The outside must also still look like a BSA wheel. No holes, slots, V or H points. Coning is allowed. It's sort of like WIRL stock rules with an extended wheelbase. The kids know that if they get to council they must use "out of the box wheels". They can still use their cars. The fastest race was without a doubt the District race. The closest racing was the Council because of the wheel rule and the very short track.

[greenhorn]

I like there being some latitude for modification in the rules. Theoretically it gives the scouts more to think about, and more they can do (read more they can learn to do). In our pack, the only rules on wheels and axles are that they must be official BSA wheels and axles. We have the typical weight and dimensional rules. So there's quite a bit of things that can be done. Unfortunately we have a large group of parents that for whatever reason believe that buying cars, or building the cars for their son, is just fine. I was quite saddened to overhear several of our scouts make the statement, just like in the movies, "I can't wait until I'm old enough to build my own car". Ugh!

[Smokinjoesracing]

This is Joe's haul from the Cub Scout Derbys this year.
L to R:
Pack 4 1st place Overall speed
Pack 4 1st place Wolf Division
Shawnee District 1st place speed
Shawnee District 1st place Wolves
Lincoln Heritage Council 6th place overall
(Council had no placements for Tigers, wolves etc...)

Needless to say...Joe is a happy boy.

We are focusing our efforts on next year's council race. We have set up our practice track to mirror the short track that the race is ran on. This year's car was set up and tested on a 35 foot track. The Council track was barely 30'. The first 13 feet of the council track was a steady drop with only about 16 feet of straightaway. In the heats that Joe won he pased all of the cars in the last 3 feet. We knew we were in trouble. He still ran well enough to place in the trophy group. Testing for next year will begin after this month's WIRL race.

[colopwdfan]

Ours was May 20, and was our 2nd. We spent alot more time on lowering friction - wheels axles but still within my son's idea of body theme we placed 3rd in wolf 6th overall! No placement in last years races so it helps! AND more important my son, Ben was really happy!
John Row

[woodenwonder]

colopwdfan said:

Ours was May 20, and was our 2nd. We spent alot more time on lowering friction - wheels axles but still within my son's idea of body theme we placed 3rd in wolf 6th overall! No placement in last years races so it helps! AND more important my son, Ben was really happy!
John Row

Congrats John and Ben! You have 3 more years to get the big one. And even if you don't your son will always remember the time you spend together. Good luck in the future.