Pinewood Derby tips.

For Moms & Dads of Scouts: If u have any Pinewood Derby tips, I am all ears! Our son's 1st race is in 9 days. Panicking!

Not a scout parent myself, but if the rules are still the same from when my brothers competed, here's my Dad's simple design that the kids can build themselves, with tools and supervision...

1) Hollow out the inside of the woodblock/car with a drill.

2) Sand/carve down a good chunk of the outside wood to craft an aerodynamic tube shape.

3) Attach the wheels.

3) Get yourself some small ball bearings, or b.b. shot.

4) Fasten a screw into the wood at the back of the hollowed-out hole inside.

5) Experiment with a postal scale, or small kitchen scale, to see how many b.b.'s you can insert into the car, keeping it right under the weight limit.

6) At "weigh in" on race day using the Scout scales, add or subtract b.b.'s as needed to keep the car just under weight limit. The screw and design makes it easy for you to do this right there, without having to whittle off any extra weight. (There's no advantage to having your car weigh light, even if it is less blocky and seems more aerodynamic carved into a more efficient shape.)

Your car will not only look sharp at the top of the ramp -- like a real racer, but chances are it will win, with the weight distributed up front and much of the extra wood gone. Only down side, there's less body to paint, and many Scouts really get more into the car color and style than the design. Good luck!