2024-2025 Derby Season Kick-Off!!!

Dear Scouts and Parents,

I hope you're all as excited as we are to kick off the 2024-2025 Pinewood Derby season! This year, we’re introducing something new and fun to make the event even more memorable: black lights! During the race, your Pinewood Derby cars will have the chance to glow under black lights if painted with fluorescent paint.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Fluorescent Paint: We encourage you to add a fun twist to your car designs by using fluorescent or neon paints, which will glow under the black lights during the race. This is entirely optional but can add an extra layer of excitement to the event.
• Standard Race Rules: All other derby rules and car specifications will remain the same, so be sure to follow those guidelines as you design and build. A copy of the race rules may be found here. 
• Workshops: We will be hosting several workshops to assist scouts and parents with building a fast car. These workshops are a great opportunity to learn, ask questions, and ensure your car is ready to race! Each workshop session will be approximately 1 hr and will be limited to 8 Scouts. Each Cub Scout must be accompanied by a parent (or guardian) to assist with construction and safety oversight. Signups for the workshops may be found at https://tinyurl.com/2025derbyworkshop.
• Volunteers Needed: We need your help to pull off this amazing event, if you have time please offer assistance by signing up to volunteer! We need help with workshops, track setup, electronics, etc. We also need someone to take over running the electronics, if you are technologically inclined and would like to support this activity please email me at james.t.ford@gmail.com. 

Prior to the Workshop:

• (Design Work) Scouts should think about a design for their car ahead of the workshop. We will be able to provide support for building three types of shapes/cars (Wedge, Flat, and Canopy) at the workshop, but Parents and Scouts can get creative and utilize the other hand and power tools for creative body shaping. We have provided some templates below for Scouts and their Parents to utilize prior to the Workshop. Feel free to pick one of the included designs or go off book and create your own.
• (Source Weights) Weights are not included in the BSA Pinewood Derby Kit, scouts will need to source their own weights which could be batteries, washers, bolts, coins, etc. There are many 3rd party options for purchase online and tungsten is a great choice for maximizing the weight to volume ratio over lead and steel. (Amazon, Pinewood Pro, Maximum Velocity, Ali Express)

Competition is great but winning isn’t everything! Pinewood Derby is meant to be fun and educational! This activity is an opportunity for scouts and their families to experiment with building techniques and to learn some light-science about how these cars behave. Remember your motto! This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate ‘do your best’ attitudes. Good sportsmanship will be emphasized! Remember, there will be award categories for things other than raw speed (appearance, workmanship, etc.)!

We can’t wait to see all the creative designs and glowing cars zooming down the track. If you have any questions or need assistance with your car design, feel free to reach out.

Let’s make this the best derby yet!

Yours in Scouting,

James Ford

Pinewood Derby Coordinator