WHAT IS A PINEWOOD DERBY CAR AND RACE AND WHEN ARE THEY GENERALLY HELD?
Pinewood Derby is Saturday, January 24, 2026 at The Guardian Angels School Gym. Check-in will be Friday night with racing starting at 9am on Saturday.
The Pinewood Derby is one of the most popular events in Cub Scouting. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the Pinewood Derby, as well as links to helpful resources and additional information.
The Pinewood Derby is a fun Cub Scout racing event held in many packs. During the event, Cub Scouts race small, driverless wooden cars down a sloped track. The cars are powered only by gravity.
With an adult’s help, each Pinewood Derby car is built by a Cub Scout using a kit that includes a wooden block, plastic wheels and metal axles. Trophies or medals are often awarded for the fastest car and the best designs.
When is Pack 301’s Pinewood Derby held?
Our Pinewood Derby is a fun event for the whole family. We love racing cars and seeing the great designs from the Scouts.
We hold our Pinewood Derby on a Saturday in January (in lieu of a Pack Meeting). Our next derby will be Saturday, January 24, 2026 at The Guardian Angels School Gym. Check-in will be Friday night (6-8pm) with racing starting at 9am on Saturday.
What are the rules?
Check out the Northern Star Scouting Pinewood Derby Race Rules.
GENERAL TIPS FOR MAKING A FAST CAR
There are many websites that will give you tops and tricks on how to maximize the speed of your car. Always keep in mind, the Northern Star Council’s derby rules will be the ones that you need to follow.
Here are a few tips that will help:
- Families are responsible for buying their own weights — see link below
- Maximize your allowable weight (up to 5oz)
- Weight should be in the rear of car in front of rear axle with the balance point 1-1.25 inches in front of rear axle.
- Use the slot closest to the end of block for rear axle.
- Low profile, smaller surface in front and larger in back.
- Wings, sails, flags, etc. catch air and will slow down the car.
- Make sure axle slots/ holes are perfectly parallel to make the car track as straight as possible.
- Lubricate wheels and axles with graphite and work in thoroughly. Graphite works best after a break-in period, so don’t use between races.
- Polish nails/axles.
- Remove flashing around nail head.
Learn more tips and tricks from Boy’s Life Magazine https://boyslife.org/hobbies-projects/pinewood-derby/162603/pinewood-derby-questions/
Watch this great video with your Scout from Mark Rober on building a Pinewood Derby Car using Science! https://youtu.be/-RjJtO51ykY
PINEWOOD DERBY FAQS FOR FAMILIES
We’ve created some Frequently Asked Questions about Pinewood Derby to help our families know what to expect.
If you have additional questions, please add them below!
CAR CHECK-IN FRIDAY NIGHT
Q: What is Race Check-in?
A: At race check-in, the Scout’s car will be checked to ensure it meets the requirements for weight (no more than 5.0 oz) and other specifications, including height, length, shape, etc.
We ask all racers to check-in on Friday night, from 6-8pm, to allow us to update the timing system as well as take photos and arrange cars for Best Design voting.
To ensure a fair playing field, once a car is checked-in, it stays in the “impound” area until after racing is completed on Saturday. Scouts and parents cannot make adjustments to the car once it’s in the impound area.
Q: Where do I get weights / how do I add them?
A: You can purchase specific car weights from Amazon.com, the Scout Shop, a variety of other places. Most use Tungsten weights, but you can use anything from pennies to washers. NOTE: YOU CANNOT USE LEAD WEIGHTS fishing or otherwise.
Please make sure to purchase and install weights before check-in on Friday night.
Q: What if my car fails check-in?
A: If a car fails part of the check-in on Friday night, they can still make changes to the car, either during the Friday night check-in (other parents will be there to assist) or overnight. All changes will need to be completed, and the car has then go through check-in an passed by 8:45am on Saturday morning (there is another window for check-in Saturday from 8am – 8:45am for this purpose).
If a Scout’s car fails check-in on Saturday morning, and is not able to be adjusted to comply with the racing rules before the 8:45am cut-off, they are not able to race for standings. We may race them in the Parent / Sibling class, to allow them to see their car race, but they would not be eligible for any awards.
As such, we strongly recommend you check-in on Friday night, as we want everyone to be able to race on Saturday.
Q: How do we know if the weight is correct?
A: Many scales (postal, food, etc) can be used at home to check your weight. The Pack will use 1 scale at check-in as the official scale of record for all cars (which is verified against a 5 oz Pinewood Derby test weight).
Our best practice recommendation is to get the weight as close to 5 oz as possible, but be prepared to add or subtract weight during the check-in period. We will have a glue gun onsite for folks to add on weights or there are tape “sticky” weight that can be purchased and added on-site to be able to adjust weight accordingly.
Q: Where are the rules for building my Scout’s Car? Can I get an exception?
A: We follow the Council rules for building Pinewood Derby cars https://www.northernstar.org/Portals/0/2022%20Northern%20Star%20Scouting%20Pinewood%20Derby%20Rules.pdf . Please make sure to read the rules to understand what is and what is not allowed. Cars not following the rules will need to be modified or will not be able to race.
RACE DAY
Q: When will my Scout race?
A: Racing will be done in a random order, determined by the timing system. Each car will race 4 times – once in each lane, but the order and timing is random. There are no “slots” of time for a den, for example.
Q. My Scout has an event during the racing time. Can he/she have his/her car raced when they are going to be there and then take the car home?
A. We want all of our Scouts be there to cheer on the racing – regardless if they are running in that particular race or not. As such, the Pack Committee has chosen to do a random order which has Scouts racing throughout the morning to ensure that everyone is cheered for during the racing.
Once all racing is complete, the cars will be available for pickup. Since we won’t know who makes the finals, if a car is removed from impound it will become ineligible to race for any future heats / the finals.
Q: How is the top finisher(s) determined?
A: We will announce the top 3 racers for each Den, based on their average time of the 4 heats. Since it is fastest average time, it does not matter who you race in during each heat.
The top 4 racers across the entire Pack will compete for the overall podium results. Their prior results will be set aside and those 4 cars will run in the Finals (4 races, each car running once in each lane) to determine the overall placing for the Pack.
Q: My Scout’s car was bumped during racing and I think it impacted how the car raced. What can I do?
A: The track starter will be watching the race to try and track any issues such as these during racing. If seen, that heat will be re-ran immediately. If you believe there is an issue, make sure to notify the Track Starter or the Timer before the next heat is ran. Once the next heat is ran, we are unable to re-run a previous heat.
Q: My Scout’s car had completed the four races and didn’t perform well, so isn’t in contention for the Finals. Can we grab our car early?
A: We ask that you refrain from picking up cars until all racing is finished, including the finals, regardless of whether you are competing in the finals or not.
Part of the sportsmanship the Pinewood Derby teaches is to cheer on their fellow Scouts, even if you are not competing in that race. Scouts who’ve picked up their car have tended to either leave right away or ignore the race to play with their car.
Additionally, Scouts who come to grab a car may knock over another Scout’s Pinewood Derby Car, which can break and cause upset feelings and potentially hurt the other Scout’s racing chances.