Pinewood Derby Track Rental

Requirements for a Successful Pinewood Derby

There are 5 requirements for having a successful Pinewood Derby:

	Pack leadership and planning.
	Enthusiastic Cub Scouts with parental support.
	A large open area to hold the race.
	A track that is smooth, true and consistent from lane to lane so as to eliminate any unfair advantage of any racer over another.
	A method for scheduling and scoring the race that is fair to all racers eliminating any perceived advantage, whether true or not, due to lane selection, race order or draw of competition. But most of all, allows all racers to have fun!

We at Cub Scout Pack 3083 cannot help with the first three items above but would like to have you consider us as a source for the last two.

The Track

Many of us have been in scouting for several years and have had to rely on pinewood derby tracks that are not as consistent from lane to lane as we would like. Usually the judging of the winner was done by eyesight of one or two judges since most tracks did not have electronic finish gates. After many years of this a few of us got together and decided that we owed it to our scouts to provide them with a track that we could feel confident was as fair as possible. We owed them a track that we could be sure when the race ended that the winner of the race was truly the one with the fastest car, not the one lucky enough to get the smoothest lane or hit the finish line when the finish judge was yawning. These kids have put in a lot of effort on these cars and we, as leaders owe it to them to provide them a fair surface to race on.

We have built this track to be as consistent from lane to lane as is humanly possible. The track is constructed of plastic laminate covered 3/4" plywood with solid aluminum center guides. The start gate is electrically controlled with vertical-drop brass start rods. The finish gate is the Fast Track Model P3 manufactured by Micro Wizard showing times for each lane down to 1/1000 of a second. (You may think this is a little bit of over kill on the timer but at our 1999 derby we had over 6 races decided by 7/1000 of a second or less!)

What We Offer

For a minimal fee we will provide you with more than just a track. You get:

	Transportation of the track both to and from the race site.
	Set-up and teardown of the track with the help of only 2 adults from your organization.
	Car evaluation box to verify car is of legal size and has proper clearances to run on the track.
	If you so choose, computerized scheduling and scoring of the race utilizing the Stern's Method. The Stern's Method tries to have every car race every other car while making sure the cars race in different lanes.

All you need to provide is:

	An indoor area for the race at least 50' long by 15' wide
	2 adults to assist with set-up & tear-down
	1 hour before and 1/2 hour after the race for set-up & tear-down
	Scales & registration personnel for check-in
	An adult to act as a starter to make sure the Cubs get their cars on the track properly and to flip the start gate switch
	A finish line judge to verify results
	A barrier to keep all persons back at least 5' from the sides of the track
	Electrical power
	Cub Scouts, cars and prizes

Rental Rates
Round Trip Travel Distance from Ionia (miles)	Track Rental Fee for up to 2 hours of Racing	Additional for Computerized Scheduling & Scoring (Stern's Method)
50	$50	$25
70	$55	$25
90	$60	$25
110	$65	$25
130	$70	$25
150	$75	$25
170	$80	$25
190	$85	$25
Additional fee for over 2 hours of Racing: $25 per hour
Request rates for longer distances

If you are interested in Pack 3083 assisting you in providing the best pinewood derby race possible for your Cub Scouts please fill in the information below and we will get in touch with you. Please contact us at least two months in advance of your scheduled race date so we can assure you of track and personnel availability.