Starting Grid

Starting Grid
One of the most fun aspects of coming along to a Pinewood Derby is seeing all the cars that people have invested time and effort in designing and making!

When we started running these kinds of events it quickly became apparent that participants and spectators alike would congregate around the table where the cars were all placed after ‘registration’ in order to informally inspect and discuss different designs and potential competitive advantages.

starting grid table tape
The other essential function of this space is to help organise and keep an eye on each of the cars during the event, to help the race organisers collect cars before each race and place the cars in their grid position between times.

I’ve still to come up with a better way of setting this area up than sticking strips of electrical tape onto a table top in a grid pattern!

Pinewood Derby Fundraising

People always respond better to requests for money when they get something in return! Running an charity fundraising event, like a Pinewood Derby, that involves people is a lot of fun, and participation means that you are more likely to attract an audience…

If you charge Pinewood Derby participants a ‘race entry fee’, or advertise the cost of a car kit, then you can cover some of the cost of your event, or begin to raise funds to support a project, purchase of equipment, or whatever.

In the first phase of our experience with this aspect of Pinewood Derby, in the context of a Scout Group, this meant that we were able to cover the cost of building our track!

Building our Pinewood Derby track

In order to run our first Pinewood Derby, we needed to build our first Pinewood Derby track! There are plenty of instructions about this online, for example here, but I thought I would add to the conversation by describing our experience.

We built our track to last, and given that we’ve been running events over the past 4 years with this track, it’s done pretty well!

The main materials we used were MDF, and plywood, with legs constructed out of pine that slot into the underside of the track sections.

The track’s running surface was built with a box profile, for rigidity and strength (although weighty!) and we used ‘pocket hole’ joints.

pinewood derby track construction

We ended up building 4 sections of track (and a couple of spares) which are 7ft long, each with 5 lanes. We also built a curved section (using a frame and ‘bendy MDF’).

The track legs (which are separate from the track) have base boards which we put concrete blocks on to weight down.

Having built our first Pinewood Derby track we have loaned it to other groups to run their own events, and in the background we have started to work on a range of improvements to our initial design.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss having a track built for you, or advice on how to start building your own – we may be able to help! Email us >> blockcarsuk@gmail.com

Updated website launched

The Block Cars website has just been updated. I’m now using WordPress to drive and expand the site, rather than it being a single page static site containing just the basic information. I’m hoping that I can start posting more information and keep you up-to-date about exciting events, new products and projects that we are developing…