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The Hottest Car Races in Town

March 14 -- It may not be the Indianapolis Speedway, but Cub Scout Pack 247's annual Pinewood Derby Races here in Farmington seem to be almost as exciting -- at least to those who were on hand this evening at the American Legion Post 416 building on West Columbia Street. As each race car sped down the race track toward the finish line, the enthusiasm of the crowd was every bit as intense as those who fill the Indy grandstands. And, believe it or not, the races here in town have several advantages over the big ones in Indianapolis. For starters, there is absolutely no pollution caused by the local race cars. Also, no one driver at these Cub Scout races has ever gotten hurt when a car goes off the track. Furthermore, all cars here are extremely fuel efficient, since they rely entirely on gravity for power. And, the owners of these Cub Scout race cars don't need to purchase expensive insurance policies for their vehicles. Finally, the personal involvement of car owners here is far greater than with the Indy owners and drivers because each owner here has to construct his own vehicle from scratch.

So, with those considerations in mind, just what are the rules at the Pinewood Derby?

Well, the goal of "keeping it simple" seems to apply here. To participate, each Cub Scout is given a plain block of wood to mold into their own, unique car to race along with four nails and four tires. Participants must carve out their own cars, which must be no longer than 7 inches in length. Some of the final products can be quite detailed, although many entries seem to be limited to just what is necessary to win. Each entry can weigh no more than 5 ounces. [If they are underweight, coins can be added to the top of the vehicle.] All entries are placed on a sloping racetrack which holds up to four cars, and all are started at precisely the same instant. Complex computer equipment, kindly provided by Patrick Heller,  was used to determine the winner within a tolerance of several milliseconds.