Remember the days of Tiger Cubs and Webelos? Nope? Me neither. But, that’s okay because men and women alike will have the chance to pimp a pinewood car and race it to the checkered flag in the first annual Pine Car Derby on April 11th at The Borough.
There is limited space available for the races and you can register and pick up your kits between now and race date for $20 at The Borough. The rules are outlined below.
Who needs Nascar? I promise this will be a fun afternoon of beers and racing in downtown Raleigh. Scout’s Honor.
ALL CARS MUST PASS INSPECTION TO QUALIFY FOR THE RACE
Following are the inspection points
1. The car weight shall not exceed 10.0 ounces. The official race scale shall be considered final. Weight may be added to the car and will be considered part of the car for purposes of all measurements. All additions 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.
2. The overall length of the car shall not exceed 7 inches.
3. The overall width of the car shall not exceed 2 ¾ inches.
4. The car must have 1 ¾” clearance between the wheels.
5. The car must have 3/8” clearance underneath the body.
6. The wood provided in the kit must be used. The block may be shaped any way that is desired.
7. The wheels supplied with the kit must be used. The wheels may not be cut, drilled, beveled or rounded. You may remove the seam from the wheels.
8. The car must not ride on any type of springs.
9. The car must be freewheeling, with no starting devices.
10. If, during a race, a car leaves the track without interfering with its opponent, it shall be considered to have ended its heat at that point.
11. If a car leaves its lane, at its sole discretion, the track chairman may inspect the track and, if a track fault is found which probably caused the initial violation, the track chairman may order the race to be rerun after the track is repaired.
12. If, during a race, no car reaches the finish line on the track, the car that went the farthest in its lane shall be declared as the heat winner.
13. If, during a race, a car leaves its lane and, in so doing, interferes with another racer, then the car at fault shall be removed from the track and the race shall be rerun with the remaining cars.
14. Only one car may be registered by any person in the Pinewood Derby.
15. Lubricants that may foul the track are prohibited.
Each car must pass inspection by the official race inspector, Blind Willy, before it will be allowed to compete. The Inspector has the responsibility to disqualify those cars that do not meet these specifications. The Inspector has the responsibility to disqualify a car if it is found to have made modifications after passing the inspection.
Welcome to New Raleigh. We welcome your participation in the ongoing discussion. Before posting we ask that you read our Comment Policy and we invite you to register with our site. If you want to keep up with the news on our blog, subscribe to the RSS feed or get emailed every time we post.