Pinewood Derby Rules

Pack 251 Pinewood Derby Rules

Cars are normally distributed at the Christmas Party in December. If you did not receive your car, contact your Den Leader.

Check-In/

All cars will be checked in before the derby begins. Cars will NOT be checked in after the event has started. Alternate arrangements can be made in advance if absolutely necessary.

Cars will be registered and inspected to ensure they’re race legal. We will have tools to make spot repairs/mods to non-compliant cars. Cars will be impounded after check in.

Here are the rules that disqualify most cars:

  • overweight
  • ground clearance (it has to move freely on the track!)
  • too long or too tall

After check-in, the Scouts don’t handle the cars except for placing their cars on the track.  Once we get started, the event is basically on rails.

Race Rules

General

  1. All cars must be made from current official BSA Pinewood Derby kits (stock wood block, axles and wheels).  Other kit cars, blocks of wood, axles, and wheels will not be allowed. Additional wheels cannot be purchased separately.
  2. All cars must be made after December1st of the current school year by the scout and members of his family.  Previous years’ cars are prohibited.  COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CARS ARE NOT ALLOWED.
  3. Cars entered in the Outlaw Class follow a separate set of rules and cannot compete in the normal Den races.

Race Specifications

  1. Cars dimensions are to be as follows:
    •  Width not to exceed 2-3/4” (**at race time)
    •   Width between wheels must be 1-3/4”
    •   Length not to exceed 7” (**at race time)
    •   Height not to exceed 3” (**at race time)
    •   Ground clearance at least 3/8”
    •   Weight not to exceed 5 oz. as measured by the Pack 251official scale (**at time of race)
    •   Wheelbase must be 4-3/8”
  2. Accessories, such as steering wheel and driver, are permissible as long as these accessories do not assist the car’s performance and do not cause the car to exceed the maximum length, width, height, and weight specifications. 
  3. No loose materials of any kind are allowed in the car.
  4. Cars must be freewheeling with no starting devices.
  5. Wheel bearings, washers and bushings are prohibited, except to the extent they act as weights only.
  6. Cars shall not ride on spring suspensions.
  7. Wheels cannot be altered to change their footprint (shape/profile).  Mold seams may be removed, but wheels may not be narrowed, ridged or otherwise changed.
  8. Axles may be secured with clear glue.
  9. Wheelbase (distance between front and rear axles) may not be modified – although it may be shifted slightly should the pre-cut grooves not be true.
  10. Axles may be polished to remove burrs.
  11. Dry lubricants (such as graphite) are the only lubricants allowed.  No wet lubricants (such as oil) are allowed.
  12. No hubcaps or wheel coverings may be used to hold in lubricant.
  13. All weights must be securely fastened to the car.
  14. No sliding, moving, movable, or liquid-based weights are allowed.
  15. Only race officials will be permitted to fix wheels that fall off during the race.  Repairs will not be allowed for any other damage to the car during the race, including weights that fall off.  The car will have to continue racing without the weights.  If the damage is such that it prevents the car from completing all 4 runs, the car will be disqualified.
  16. In case of close calls or questions, the decision of the derby chair is final.

**There are car designs which may be allowed for judging, but the accessories which cause car to not meet specs must be removed before racing. Example – a pirate ship with a sail that is detached before race.

Awards

Awards vary from year to year.

Depending on the number of entries, we may have trophies, ribbons, and/or certificates.

Outlaw Class

This is a special race for parents, siblings, and Cubs which “throws the rules out the window.”

$15 entry fee (includes car kit)

The only rules that apply are

  1. Cars dimensions are to be as follows:
    •  Width not to exceed 2-3/4”
    •   Width between wheels must be 1-3/4”
    •   Length not to exceed 7”
    •   Height not to exceed 6″
    •   Ground clearance at least 3/8”
    •   Weight not to exceed 24 oz. as measured by the Pack 251official scale
    •   Wheelbase must be 4-3/8”
  2. No loose materials of any kind are allowed in the car.