Pinewood Derby 2010POOLER Scouts had a great Pinewood Derby 2010. It's a racing event for Cub Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America. Cub Scouts, with the help of parents, build their own cars from wood, from kits containing a block of pine, plastic wheels and metal axles.
With the popularity of the pinewood derby, other organizations have developed similar events, and a small industry has developed to provide tracks, timers, scales and other products. The pinewood derby was selected as part of "America's 100 Best" in 2006 as "a celebrated rite of spring" by Reader's Digest.
Pinewood Derby 2010 
Similar Cub Scouting events include the raingutter regatta with boats and the space derby using rubber band powered rockets. Pinewood Derby 2010 OriginsCubmaster Don Murphy organized the first pinewood derby, held on May 15, 1953 in Manhattan Beach, California. Murphy's son was too young to participate in the popular Soap Box Derby races, so he came up with the idea of racing miniature wood cars.The cars had the same gravity-powered concept as the full-size Soap Box Derby cars, but were much smaller and easier to build. After Don Murphy's first race in 1953 the Los Angeles County Department of Recreation copied the pinewood derby with Murphy's permission.
ConstructionThe idea behind the pinewood derby is for the parent, usually the father, but occasionally the mother or grandparent, to spend time helping the child design, carve, paint, add weights, and tune the final car. However, it is often the case that the parent takes over the construction of the car, an aspect of the event that was lampooned in the 2005 film Down and Derby, and also in a 2009 episode of "South Park".
Pinewood Derby 2010 Car modificationsThe force propelling a pinewood derby car is gravity and the only opposing force is friction, therefore car modifications are aimed at minimizing the friction that occurs when the wheel spins on the axle, contacts the axle head or car body, or contacts the track guide rail.
Learn More!Here's a list of popular Websites that will help your scout build a winning pinewood derby race car:1. Build a Fast Pinewood Derby Car - Offers tips, time trials, and a selection of humor. 2. Cory's Pinewood Derby Site - Offers tips, time trials, and a selection of humor. 3. Derby Talk - A forum for discussing the various aspects of building, racing, and staging pinewood derby-style races. 4. Derby Worx Forum - A forum for discussing pinewood derby-style racing, with a specific focus on adult competition. 5. Grand Prix Racing - On-line 'how-to' and 'why' manuals for building fast pinewood derby cars. The 'why' manuals detail the physics and mathematical models of gravity-powered racing. 6. GrandPrix Race Central - A general information site, focusing on pinewood derby race management. The site offers software, plans for an electronic finish line, and weigh scale information. 7. Official Pinewood Derby Website - Official pinewood derby website from BSA. 8. The Ol' Buffalo Pine Car Page - Tips for building a pinewood derby car, a race manager checklist, and links to related sites. 9. PDDR Pinewood Derby Forum - Home - Discussion forum for PDDR racing, and general derby topics. 10. Pinewood Derby Car Building Tips - Includes tool tips, correcting modelling mistakes, and contains a buyer's guide, speed tips and reviewed links. 11. Pinewood Derby SuperSite - Informational site, focused on the San Diego 500 race. Includes track plans, tips, etc. 12. Pinewood Derby Webring - A collection of linked sites about racing, car design and construction, competition formats and rules, and photographs. 13. Pope's Pinewood Pages Portal - A collection of pinewood derby building tips and race management guidelines. 14. Shape N Race Derby - Information, advice, and resources for pinewood derby participants, parents, and planners. Includes photos of unusual cars, track plans, and sorted/reviewed links.
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