Tips, guides, and tools for organizers and parents.
Practical writing about pinewood derby — from running the night to building the car. Things we learned the hard way, written down.
Pinewood Derby for organizers
Running a race night without losing your Saturday. Registration, check-in, heat scheduling, results — the operational playbook.
Pinewood Derby for parents
Building a fast, legal car with a kid who wants to win. Tools, rules, technique, and what actually matters on race day.
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Most recent first · 10 articles total
Pinewood Derby Race Day: A First-Time Pack Chair's Playbook
How to run the day like a conductor, not a firefighter. Setup, check-in, heats, awards, fallbacks — from arrival to lockup.
We Got Chickens Last Year. So My Wife Put One in Her Derby Car.
My wife built her pinewood derby car around a single image — a pickup truck with a chicken in the bed. It won first place in design and came fourth in speed in our Parents and Staff division. This post is about why she did not care about the second number.
The Final Two Weeks Before Your Pinewood Derby
What a first-time pack chair should be doing each block of time in the run-up to race day. Two weeks out, one week out, day before, race morning.
How My Nine-Year-Old Designed Her Own Pinewood Derby Car (and Painted It with Glitter)
My daughter Karen is nine. She designed her car with me in Tinkercad, picked colors from her Awana group, and painted the details herself. Here is what changes when your derby builder is old enough to actually be your co-designer.
Setting Up Your Pinewood Derby: Rules, Registration, and the Track
A pack chair's setup guide. What to publish, what to collect, and what to test — before race day catches you with a surprise.
How My Five-Year-Old's Shark Came Second (And Won Best Design in His Division)
My son Elias is five. He picked the design, he painted the car, and the car came in second place in speed and first place in design within his division at his Awana Grand Prix. Here is what he did, what I did, and how the work splits when your derby builder is in kindergarten.
Pinewood Derby Race Formats Explained: Bracket vs. Heat Rotation vs. By-Den
A pack chair's guide to picking the right race format. Bracket, heat rotation, by-den — what they are, what they cost you, and what most modern packs run.
The First-Time Pack Leader's Pinewood Derby Planning Checklist
A phase-based planning checklist for pack leaders running their first pinewood derby — from picking a date to clearing the gym floor. Free downloadable PDF included.
Pinewood Derby Weight Placement: Where to Put It and Why
Weight placement is the single biggest factor in how fast your kid's car runs. Here's where to put it and the physics-light reasoning behind why.