Pinewood Derby Overcomes Digital Challenge

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Keegan Scott, Turner Smith and Luke Vance
Keegan Scott, Turner Smith and Luke Vance

Crozet Cub Scout Pack 79 held its annual Pinewood Derby January 24 at Crozet United Methodist Church, where it meets. Cars built by Turner Smith, Luke Vance and Keegan Scott took the three top spots, respectively.

Things did not go as planned, however, when the digital race timing system failed and race officials were obliged to “go old-school” and do the timing and race records by hand. The computer system had been tested the night before, but when the projection system was added, compatibility issues arose and despite best efforts it could not be made to work. But meanwhile the lunch pizza arrived.

The race pitted 46 cars against each other. Cars speed down an inclined aluminum track with four lanes. Each car races four times, once in each lane. At the halfway point in the races the track was vacuumed.

Scouts built 36 cars (every boy in the pack made one), adults entered four cars and siblings of scouts entered another six. Cars have a five-ounce weight limit. Boys start with a block of wood and set of wheels weighing three ounces when they make their cars. BBs and fishing weights are strategically added to get to the weight limit. Dennis Pupo, who has been an “adult scouter” for 30 years, brought an impressive display of car designs to show off. Among them were cars that looked like tanks, sticks of dynamite, slices of pie, dollar bills, candy bars, mummy caskets, an old shoe, a waving American flag, and a chunk of cheese with a mouse riding it.

The finish line
The finish line

The races started after cubmaster David Vance, first holding up two fingers, signaled to cub scouts to quiet down, and the pack respectfully recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Vance reminded scouts that the pack’s core value is “positive attitude.” He thanked the scouts’ moms and dads for helping put on the event. It was Vance’s last official duty, as Jaime Brady now takes over the cubmaster role.

Hand recordkeeping slowed down the pace of the heats. But the scouts, true to their Be Prepared motto, adapted and used hand signals to start races as the gate at the top of the track was dropped.

“That’s scouting,” said one dad. “You get a challenge and you overcome it.”

The fastest car belonged to Turner Smith, next came Luke Vance’s car and in third was Keegan Scott’s. Awards also went to the fastest cars for each den (top finishers were not counted in this) and they went to Braden Fuller (Tiger), Mason Cobert (Wolf), Alex Covington (Bear), Will Schweitzer (Webelos I) and Jude Sanborn (Webelos II).

Creativity trophies went to Max Schinstock and Hunter Brady. Hands-on awards went to Alex Flamm and Ketner Pleasants, and Scout Spirit awards went to Duncan Healey and Sean Sanborn.

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