Niels took on the task of building a new track. As long as it was a new track, he also wanted to incorporate an electronic timing device in the hopes that the races would not drag on quite so long. Dave Regan took on the task of building the electronics (for which he had no skill) and writing a simple program to deal with the electronics (for which he is qualified).

The strategy of the new track is to run every car on each lane of the track, and take the average time. By running in every lane, we average out problems with fast or slow lanes, and by taking time measurements (good to 1/1000th of a second) we avoid running heats to compare each car directly against all other cars.

To keep the drama of the evening alive, we have a contest for each den in the pack. The first, second, and third place in each den gets appropriate awards. If there is more than one den of a particular rank, we take the top two cars in each den of the given rank, and have a race to determine the "best of rank". Once that is complete, we take the fastest 8 cars in the pack, and have a run off. These run off races aren't strictly necessary, but it keeps people happy. It also shows how cars age, as the cars don't necessarily turn in the same times during the run off as they did in the qualifing races.

This web page is to serve several purposes:

• It allows other people a chance to see what we have done, and to borrow ideas that they like, and for them to create their own track. All of the programs used are available here (without any warranty or support).
• Document the track design. While a derby track looks simple there are some things to watch out for.
• Document the electronics. This doesn't have to be looked at too often which means that nobody will ever remember how it is supposed to work. It also allows others to look at the electronics.
• Document the program. A year between races allows people to forget much of what they knew.
• Document the supplies which need to be collected before the race.
• Document the procedures for running a race so that new people joining the race team have a chance of knowing what's going on.
• Describe some hints at trouble shooting and possible things which might go wrong.
• Give our theories as to what makes a fast pinewood derby race.
• Possible variations which may be more interesting to the kids. Remember, this is really all for the kids.

This Pinewood Derby Racing Web Ring site is owned by Dave Regan.

[Previous] [Skip Previous] [Previous 5]
[Random] [List Members]
[Next Site] [Skip Next] [Next 5]

How to join The Pinewood Derby Racing Web Ring.

Last modified 27 May 2006
Questions or comments can be sent to Dave Regan.