The local “Pinewood Derby” races have always provided us with an opportunity to give back to our Shell Lake community and have a little fun ourselves. So when we heard the Friends of Shell Lake Scouting was putting on a Pinewood Derby race this year, we registered three cars and got right to work.
Have you ever been to a Pinewood Derby?
The Pinewood Derby is a fundraiser and racing event for Cub Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America. Typically, cub scouts build a race car with their parents using a kit that includes a block of pine, wheels, and axles.
The Cub Scouts then participate in a race with fellow cub scouts to see who built the fastest car. Locally, this event has been opened up to the public as well, in an effort to raise funds for the local Boy Scout troops.
Woodworkers LOVE the Pinewood Derby
As woodworkers, any mention of the phrase “Pinewood Derby” will instantly grab our attention and get our wheels turning (yes, pun intended). The creativity ran rampant through the shop and after a few days of research, planning, and drawing, we had a few very unique Pinewood Derby cars proudly displayed on their creators’ benches.
In our line of work, creating unique, aesthetically pleasing pieces is what we do everyday. Our craftsmen will take every opportunity they get to design and create something totally unique. However, in Pinewood Derby, aesthetics is not the name of the game.
The Secret to Building the Perfect Pinewood Derby Car
The goal in any Pinewood Derby is to create the fastest car, and because speed isn’t in our day to day project design (imagine if we could race retail fixtures!) everyone in the shop researched, planned, and collaborated together to determine the characteristics of the fastest cars in Pinewood Derby. From lead and friction, to shape and aerodynamics, our craftsmen equipped their cars with many customizations.
Test runs were done every day in the shop the week leading up to the event and adjustments were made as each team saw fit. We had it figured out! The blue car was always the fastest in our test runs so it was for sure going to pull some fast times come race day.
Little did we know, the builders of the red car took a last minute trip to the Hobby Lobby and made a last ditch effort to exceed the speed of the blue car. They bought several different sets of wheels and axels, spun each wheel timing how long each spun, and even diamond polished the axels. Set on a level surface, the red car just kept rolling.
What Happened on Race Day?
Come race day, we were ready to see which one of the three cars would be the fastest. The anticipation was high and you could cut the tension between the three D.P. Juza teams with a knife. At this point, it wasn’t even about the event and all the other competition. It was about which one of our cars would beat the others. And so it began…
Four cars were lined up and ready to race the first event. With the blue car in lane one, the green car in lane four, and two of the cub scouts’ cars in between they were off!
And in a matter of seconds, we were stunned. The blue car lost to the green car! Each race, the blue car just kept getting slower and slower, only reaching the finish line two out of the five times it raced. We only realized why it was so slow when the wheel and axel flew off in the middle of its last race…
When it was all said and done, the green car took 9th place overall, the blue car was awarded the “safest driver” title, and the red car – with its special red wheels and diamond polished axels – ended up being the fastest of our three cars.
Though the red car did not “place” in the overall race, it was awarded honorable mention for its uniqueness and flawless finish and was placed atop a giant trophy that now sits on display in our break room. Needless to say, the cub scouts won nearly every race and clearly showed they were the ones that knew how to build the fastest Pinewood Derby cars.
Over the last 20 years, our woodworking shop in Shell Lake, WI has produced more than 500 unique and stunning wood pieces for installation in golf pro shops, resorts, commercial retail spaces, and residential homes across the country.