Pack 800 Pinewood Derby

Cub Scout Pack 800 Pinewood Derby Rules

One (1) official car kit will be provided by the pack.  Additional car kits are available for siblings and parents for a nominal cost.

Each kit contains 1 car block, 4 wheels and 4 nail axles.  This is the official Cub Scout kit and there are no substitutions.  Only components from the official kit distributed this season are allowed.  No other sources can be used.  No cars or parts from previous years are allowed.  Any deviations will considered to be “Open” class cars and will not be eligible for “Speed” awards” 

Scout cars will be judged in light of ability and level of achievement by scouting level.  Each car should show a joint effort by parent and child.  This is a shared scout/parent project, not a parent race or project.  Have fun, but let your child decide what to build.  The parent and sibling race is a separate race after the Scout event.

Deadline for the car weigh-in and impound is specified in the Pack800 Pinewood Derby Information page.

Design judging for Scout cars will be done on Thursday night.  Judging will be on effort and ability of child’s involvement based on the scouting level.  Parents may help with the design idea, basic shaping, and wheel alignment.

The child should help think up the design idea, help with the shaping, and do the paining and decorating of the car.

Once all cars (Scout and parent) are weighed in they are impounded until their first scheduled race time.  Car will be available for graphite immediately prior to the races; however, no additional graphite will be allowed after racing starts.

Scout Design Awards will be presented during the Derby event.

Speed awards will be presented after the completion of the racing.

Cub Scout must be present during the race in order to participate in the Speed event.  The individual scout racer must handle their car during the race.  Scouts are responsible for carrying and handling their own cars.  Be careful not to drop your car during handling and racing, they won’t last.  Dropping a car once is usually enough to break it.

Official Weigh-In:

The official weigh-in will occur at the time and location posted in the agenda on the Pack800 Pinewood Derby Information page.

Minor last minute weight adjustments (adding weight) will be allowed; however, car must be complete and ready to race when presented at weigh-in.  No graphite, construction, painting or finishing at weigh-in!

If you miss the official weigh-in then you can still participate, however your car will not be eligible for the official Scout Speed or Design contests. You can still participate in the "Open" class race at the end of the evening.

Tips: A penny ($0.01) weighs 0.1 ounce.  It’s better to build the car slightly under the limit and adjust up than to have to remove material at the last minute.

Race Time:

Race times depend on the number of cars participating and may deviate from the times posted in the agenda.

Car Specifications:

Only the official kit from the Pack may be used.

Width not to exceed 2 ¾ inches.  Length is not to exceed 7 inches.  The height is not to exceed 3 inches.

Track clearance is 3/8 inches to successfully straddle the guide rail.

Weight is not to exceed 5.0 ounces per official Pack 800 scale.

Axle spacing is not defined however to be eligible for the Blackhawk 500 District event, axle spacing must be 4.4 inches +- 0.125 inch (1/8 inch).

Any material added to the car for decoration or weight adjustments must be securely fastened to the car.

Wheel bearing, washers, bushings, and shaped, narrowed, or split axles are prohibited.  The original axles may not be changed in any way, shape, or form, except that burrs and ridges may be removed and smoothed.

Lubricating with graphite or other dry lubricants is permissible.  No liquid lubricants are allowed.

Graphite will be available at the race.  You may apply whatever amount of graphite that you want prior to your first race.  Once racing begins, no further graphite may be applied.  Reapplying graphite or any other lubricant at any time after the start of the  races will result in disqualification from the speed event.

Graphite is messy.  All application of graphite must be done outdoors.  There will be a table setup outside for use during the application of graphite.  No graphite is allowed indoors.

No starting attachments are allowed.  Car must be freewheeling.

Only the stock (Cub Scout kit) wheels and axles may be used   Correction of manufacturing imperfections will be the only modification of stock wheels allowed.  There can be no modifications to the basic wheels other than smoothing of the wheel surfaces that contact the racetrack track, the sides of the car and the axles.  Burrs may be removed from the axles; however, original axle size and shape must be retained.

The width of the wheels may not be altered from the original kit.

Enhancements such as drivers, fenders, wheel guards, windshields, wings or shark-fins are acceptable as long as the maximum dimensions are not violated.

The car must have been entirely made during the current racing season.  No cars or parts used in previous years are allowed.

Speed Contest:

On the day of the race, all cars are subject to inspection by the officials and are subject to disqualification if any of the specifications are violated at any time.

Cars will be placed in random lanes or cycled through each lane as required to allow each participant to race in each of the lanes.

One of the two following formats will be used to determine the winners: