Pinewood Derby Q&A

Should they have a separate Pinewood Derby for the dads?

It seems like few of the kids' cars in Cub Scouts were actually made by kids. Perhaps have a separate Pinewood Derby for the dads. Some people sell expert cars on ebay.

Public Comments

1. I agree - my son makes his own car - only to get beat by "the fathers" EVERY YEAR! My husband actually approached one of the fathers that won and said "Congrats - you must feel so proud to have beaten the rest of the 8 year olds!" and the father replied "I know - I get a little carried away." I truely think the dad's should have thier own as well!
2. HA! It was like that 20 years ago when my brother was in scouts. Parents are crazy sometimes. Do these dads really think that people can't tell that a 12 year old didn't make that car? Oh well, I guess we shouldn't complain too much. At least the dads are actually spending time with their kids.
3. When i was doin pinewood derby, i don't believe any of the dads helped, but then again, i was in a small boy scout group. Thought never came to mind. My Grandma built a car for the derby, but never raced anyone except for my car, and others if they wanted to just for fun. lol, she won all after races. but. to answer your question, NO there should not be an event for the dads. There needs to be no adults (cept for the leader) around when the KIDS build their cars. That way, a son cannot use his dads car in the race. We built our cars together, not at home.
4. YES! My son isn't old enough for Cub Scouts yet, but I remember when my brother was one. He always lost because my mom made him do the honest thing and make the car himself, while the other boys had their fathers do it for them. How unfair it is that a child to be essentially punished for being honest and hard - working. Definitely make one just for the dads!
5. Ha ha! Yes, there should be a separate derby for dads. It has to be hard for the dads and the boys though. Even for those that want to make their cars themselves, or their dads that want the kids to make it themselves, there is always that fear that one car will be built by dad and be the best. Imagine how bad that would be for the ones who built theirs on their own? I think that there needs to be a better balance between dads helping their sons and mentoring, and dads doing all of the work.
6. Our council does have a separate 'family race' that runs, after all of the dens run their races. It still doesn't change the fact that the boys cars are mostly made by a grownup, though. It just means that the grownup gets to make *2* cars. My kids make their own, once I do the rough cut (using a hand saw, because we don't have any power tools). It was fun seeing my little girl running her own handmade car in the 'family race' up against the more complicated grown up cars. We just try to emphasize the fun of building a car & racing it, to our kids - not the desire to 'win'. They know the score - that most of those other kids, even if they win, didn't really get to have any fun preparing for the derby or watching the race. Every year, they also have a prize for the car that 'best honors the cub scout spirit'. That's the saddest part, to me - when a car that was obviously made by the parent wins that award. How is that part of the 'cub scout spirit'?
7. When I worked in Scouts a few years back we created a Dads division locally. It worked well. But the Dads still helped make their sons make their cars go fast. One guy I knew from work used weight and balancing methoids and graphite impregnation to make a really fast car. Won districts. People that are machinists and know anything about drag and friction can really make a difference. It is not fair to the kids that follow the ideal of scouting.
8. I participated in pinewood derby as a young cub scout and it put me in tears more often then not. My dad made all of my cars, the first two years we got spanked, so the my third year he went all out and my car was wicked fast, i had won every race 1st place until the final race between me and the kid who had won the year before, we raced best 2 of three, he won the first race, i won the 2 nd then he won the third, so he got the trophy, but won of the other dads noticed that this kids car was the same one that had won from the year before when confronted the kid admitted too it but because there was not an official rule book they let him keep 1st place iwas ticked off, oh and by the way i was last place in every race i was in in the previous 2 years, but all the good cars weren't even built by the kids or the dads they bought them at the scout office. i think all the cub scout races are crap!!
9. Sadly, some people will always cheat or not do what is required of them when it comes to entering competitions. I feel they should hold a day where the dads and their children all have to go to the same place with their supplies and build their pinewood derby car together, in a controlled and supervised environment. I'm sure that would substantially cut down on the cheating.