Pack 8 2007 Pinewood Derby Rules

General Rules

  1. Qualification. All registered Pack 8 Tiger, Cub, and Webelos Scouts may design, build and enter one car each.

  2. Attendance: The Cub Scout MUST enter his own car. This means that the Cub Scout must be present at "Inspection and Registration" to enter his car into competition. Inspections will start no earlier than (so be at KHA by) on Saturday March 3: Any scout not present when Inspection and Registration for his Den occurs, can not compete.

  3. Interpretation of Rules Interpretation of the rules are at the sole discretion of the Pinewood Derby Committee and its designees. The 2007 Pack 8 Pinewood Committee is:
  4. TrackMaster. The Trackmaster (duties described below), who is not a member of the Pinewood Committee, is designated by the Pinewood Committee.

  5. Inspector. The Inspector will peform all car inspections before the Den Heats and re-inspections of repaired cars (see Rule 26). The Inspector, who is not a member of the Pinewood Committee, will be designated by the Pinewood Commitee.

  6. Appeals. Decisions of the TrackMaster on questions of rules interpretations and procedure may be appealed to the Pinewood Derby Committee. On Race-Day, the Cub Scout or his adult companion must make all questions of rules interpretations, procedures, and results to the Pinewood Derby Committee with 5 five minutes of the announcement of a result. Appeals after 5 minutes of the announcement of a result will be heard at the discretion of the Committee, but likely will not be heard. All decisions of the Pinewood Derby Committee are final. Note: Unsportsmanlike conduct by any participant or spectator will be grounds for expulsion from the competition and/or the race area.

  7. Conflict of Interest. If a Pinewood Derby Committee member's son is involved in an appeal to the Pinewood Committee, that member will excuse him/herself and be replaced by the Pinewood Derby Committee alternate for that decision.

    Cars

  8. New Work. Construction of ALL entries MUST have begun AFTER last year's Pack 8 Pinewood Derby Races.

  9. Car Body. . The car body must be constructed of pine wood.

  10. Weight.. Race cars may weigh no more than five (5) ounces (total weight) as determined on the official scales during Inspection and Registration. Note: The official scale will be available at KHA on Friday March 3 for pre-race testing; it is strongly recommended that all cars get tested Friday before Inspection on Saturday.

  11. Wheels and Axles. The car shall roll on the wheels from a pinewood kit. The wheels shall turn about the axle nails from the kit. The axle nails shall be firmly affixed to the wood of the car body, and MUST be placed in the original 'axle grooves' in the supplied wooden block. It must be obvious to the judges that the grooves, wheels, and the nails from the kit are being used.

  12. Size. Race cars may be no longer than 7 inches, nor wider than 2-3/4 (2.75) inches, as determined by the official gages during the Registration and Inspection. Underside clearance of at least 3/8 (0.375) inches and inside wheel to wheel clearance of at least 1-3/4 (1.75) inches is recommended, so that the car will run on the race track. Adequate clearance is the responsibility of the race car builder.

  13. Weights and Attachment. Weight may be added to the car and will be considered part of the car for purposes of all measurements. "Weight" is considered to be any material on the car that is not provided in the kit. All weight must be securely fastened to the car, e.g. by permanent glue, nails or screws, but not by "sticky substances", e.g. tape, or tack spray. Weights shall be passive, i.e. non-moveable, non-magnetic, non-electric, non-sticky, etc.

  14. Wheel Treatment. Wheel treatment (hub and tread smoothing and polishing) may not result in substantial removal of mass nor in reducing the wheel width from the original kit wheels. Some of the original "tread marks" on the wheel face must remain intact, i.e. apparent to the inspector. Wheels may not be machined to a beveled condition and the portion of the wheel surface that contacts the track must remain parallel to the axle.

  15. Unacceptable Construction. The following may NOT be used in conjunction with the wheels or axles: hubcaps, washers, inserts, sleeves, bearings.

  16. Gravity Powered. The race car may not be constructed or treated in such a way that the track's starting mechanism imparts momentum to the car. (For instance, this provision disqualifies cars with sticky substances on the front of the car and protrusions which may catch on the starting pin.)

  17. Lubricants. Only dry lubricants such as graphite or powdered teflon "white lube" will be allowed for lubricating the wheels. Lubricants may not foul the track.

  18. Derby Disqualification. Any car that is deemed at official race-day inspection as being outside of these standards may be disqualified from the entire Derby without a chance to rectify. If the Pinewood Committee feels that the car can be fixed without holding up the races, they MAY allow a fix and re-check for qualification. However, re-checks will usually be disallowed, so come Friday night and make sure your son's car is within standards.

    Races

  19. Races. Scouts will be responsible for bringing their own car from the storage area to the race track, and back. If a Scout does not present himself within one minute of his name being called, his car will be get 0 points for that race.

  20. Den Heats. There will be four Den Heats (for Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelo). Each car will race once in each lane for a total of three races for a car in a Den Heat. The races in a Den Heat will likely be against different cars, but this is not guaranteed. In the event that a race does not have three cars, cars from another heat will be chosen at random to fill out the lanes. These "fill-in" cars will not earn points themselves, but their participation will determine the points for the other cars in the race (e.g. a fill-in finishing second will cause a scheduled car to be third and thus the scheduled car will get only one point).

  21. Race Scoring. For each race, a car is awarded 4 points for first place, 2 points for second place, 1 point for third place, 0 points for disqualification. If, during a race heat, a car(s) does not reach the finish line on the track, places for non-finishing cars will be determined by which cars went the furthest. In all cases, the finishing place of cars will be determined by the Trackmaster. The Trackmaster may use finish line judges to assist him/her. THE TRACKMASTER MAY OVERRULE ANY PLACES REPORTED BY THE TRACK ELECTRONICS OR FINISH LINE JUDGES. Appeals of the Trackmaster rulings are made to the Pinewood Committee, who as in the NFL, must have clear evidence to overturn the ruling on the track.

  22. Pack Heat . The two cars with the most points from each Den Heat advance to the the Pack Heat. In the event of more than two cars having the highest number of points in a Den Heat, all cars with the highest points from the Den Heat advance to the Pack Heat. The Pack Heat will be conducted similar to the Den Heats.

  23. Pack Final. The two cars with the most points in the Pack Heat go on to the Pack Final. In the event of more than two cars having the highest point total, all cars with highest total will move on to the Pack Final. The Pack Final will be conducted similar to the other heats. If a car has the highest total after the heat, that car is the Pack Champion. If two or more cars have the same highest point total, the other cars are eliminated and those cars with highest total participate in another Pack Final. This continues until one car has the highest total in a Pack Final and can be declared Pack Champion.

  24. Car Leaves Lane. If, during a race heat, a car leaves its lane but does not interfere with an opponent, then the race will be called normally, possibly with the car receiving points if it finishes back in its lane. If the car leaves it's lane and interferes with another car, then the race will be re-staged and re-run. If in any re-run of THAT RACE, the same car is judged to have instigated interference with another car, the instigating car will be disqualified from that single race, given 0 points for the race, and the race will be re-staged and re-run without that car (two strikes and it is out of that race). The race re-run is done with only the remaining cars, no fill-ins, so that the remaining cars will get the highest places. Note that in order for a car to be disqualified from a race, it must interfere in both the orginal race and THAT RACE's re-running. That is, a car is not disqualified from a race for interfering in two seperate races.

  25. Track Fault. If a car leaves its lane, at his sole discretion, the Trackmaster may inspect the track and, if a track fault is found which probably caused the initial violation, the Trackmaster may order the race, and possibly previous races, to be rerun after the track is repaired.

  26. Car Repair. If, during the race, a wheel falls off or the car becomes otherwise damaged, then the scout may, to the best of his ability, with permission of the TrackMaster, perform repairs. The car must be repaired, re-checked by the Inspector, and ready for its next scheduled race (i.e. be ready within the one minute time period from calling of the cub's name for his next race).

  27. The Race Area. Only race officials and scouts delivering cars may enter the track area. This rule will be strictly enforced.