Pinewood Derby History: 2023
In 2023 (as in 2022), we held a hybrid Pinewood Derby, with a Livestream for folks at home (or family members far away) and an in-person event for those who felt comfortable. We separated the racing by den, which avoided crowding. We are, as always, thankful to the West Portal Lutheran Church for letting us use the Parish Hall to conduct the race.
This year, our Bear scouts went above and beyond with their Bear Carnival -- featuring SO many fun games. Scouts who completed all 12 games were rewarded by getting to do everyone's favorite game: eat a donut on a string. Well done Bear scouts!
Last, we must thank the many, many volunteers who made the Pinewood Derby event possible. None of this happens without all of us lending a hand -- thank you, thank you, thank you.
In 2023, we had 68 Scout League Cars, 12 Family League Cars and 5 Cubmaster Cup Cars entered! Wow! Each was a true work of art and we are super proud of the scouts who created these. Well done! Click the link below to see a gallery of all of the cars.
Thank you to everyone who participated!
2023 Watch the Race!
We live-streamed the race, and a slightly edited version of that livestream is available to rewatch! Check it out here:
This was a hybrid event, so there is only music playing in the background - no commentary.
In order to protect the identities of our scouts/other youth, the cameras were aimed intentionally to minimize the number of youth faces that would be captured in the livestream.
2023 Award Winners
We love racing the cars, but 1st, 2nd and 3rd aren't the whole story... cars can also win Design Awards. Most of these are voted on by their scout peers, though a few are chosen by our Cubmaster. Check out the winners below!
AWARDS
Congratulations to these winners!
"That Does Not Look Like a Car" - Scout Car 3
Scoutiest Car - Scout Car 26
Most colorful car - Scout Car 35
Most hilarious car - Scout Car 83
Dreamiest / Most Magical Car - Scout Car 39
Most historic car - Scout Car 41
Most futuristic car - Scout Car 15
Fastest Looking car - Scout Car 15
Most animal-like car - Scout Car 26 18
Car with the most hard miles on it - Scout Car 59
Stealthiest car - Scout Car 54
Most edible car - Scout Car 31
Most friendly car - Scout Car 70
Scout's Choice (the car that gets the most scout votes total) - Scout Car 26
And a few awards that are chosen by the Adult leaders / racing results:
1st Place / Fastest Car - Scout Car 40 (2.8456 seconds)
2nd Place / 2nd Fastest Car - Scout Car 17 (2.8598 seconds)
3rd Place / 3rd Fastest Car - Scout Car 91 (2.8942 seconds)
2023 See All of the Cars
You can see all 82 of the cars entered in the 2023 race here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HnMFTCLfTEF3JhTHdLGnX9gyhHb06Ij2?usp=sharing
There are some truly amazing works of art!
Family Division Cars
We always welcome cars into Family division which includes all of our non-scout racers (siblings, parents, other adults). These cars are not eligible for the design awards, but we do give a Family Division Design Award for the Cubmaster's favorite car in this division. This year, the Family Division Design
2023 Cubmaster Cup
2023 was the THIRD year of our Cubmaster Cup, created in honor of Tim Harrington, our 2018-2021 Cubmaster, for whom the Pinewood Derby has always been his #1 most favorite Cub Scout activity. This racing division is open, by invitation only, to past Cubmasters and Committee Chairs of Pack 345. In 2023 John Nay won the Cubmaster Cup over Nick Pelis by the slimmest of margins!
2023 Entrants:
Tim Harrington: Bug Car
Paul Lanzi: Crossing Over
John Nay: Big Red
Nick Pelis: Stickers Add 5 Horsepower
Kerrie Ashley: Glitter Go Fast
Cubmaster Cup Cars
See you next year!
