rhino car

 

 

 

Local Links:

 

Website Under Construction !

Keep checking in to find new pages and links. New information added daily.

oscar meyer car

 

 

 

Here's what you need for now!

Eligibility

If you're currently registered as a Cub Scout with any Pack in the Sam Houston Area Council, you're eligible. As you can imagine, that's a lot of Scouts (almost 100,000) so you can see why registering your car for the MegaDerby™ as early as possible is important, given that there are only 300 openings. If you're not a Cub Scout, you may be able to race on Race Day on a standby basis IF there are any slots still open. Just don't hold your breath. Instead of planning to race a car yourself, do the best you can to support the Cubs you know that are planning to race. Registering a car for entry in the design competition, however, will not be subject to a physical limit of 300. We'll provide more info on this later on.

Registration Rules

(Further details coming soon! Click back later.)

Construction Rules

General

  1. Cars entered to place in timed or measured events, must be newly made for the current year Pack, District, or Council-level events and may not recycled from prior years’ Scout Fair races unless they have been substantially re-built or re-crafted to reflect a new design or concept.
  2. Each car entered must have been built by the individual entrant or parent/child team entering the car. Entry of a car that has been purchased from a third-party or made-to-order by a third party is prohibited and subject, upon discovery, to immediate disqualification (see endnote 1).
  3. Unless otherwise noted, all construction rules apply to all entries in all events.

Size & Material Specifications

  1. Only B.S.A. Official Pinewood Derby Kits nos. 1622, 17006, 17003, 17007, 7610 or the “Stock Car Kit Special Edition” may be used. (Pinecar and other partially-finished or pre-shaped construction kits may be used for Tiger Rank and Open Division entries only.)
  2. The body of the car must be substantially (more than 75%) made from the Pine wood block contained in an approved Pinewood Derby Kit. If a question arises as to compliance with this rule, inspectors may, at their discretion and if necessary, remove a small amount of finish in a non-critical area to inspect more closely.
  3. LENGTH overall, including any attachments to the car body, shall not exceed 7”.
  4. WIDTH overall, including wheels and axles, shall not exceed 2 ¾".
  5. HEIGHT overall, including any attachments to the car body, shall not exceed 4” so that car will pass under overhead portion of timing apparatus. 
  6. Width between wheels shall not be less than 1 ¾”.
  7. Throughout the 1 ¾” wide center area of the car positioned above the center guide strip or rails, the minimum distance between the bottom of the car and the plane of wheel contact with the track surface shall be 3/8”. This clearance distance also applies to any protrusions or weights extending from the bottom of the car in this area.
  8. Wheelbase may be modified provided that the car’s overall length, including wheels and any accessories or extensions from the body, does not exceed 7”.
  9. The car must be free-wheeling with no starting device or other propulsion.
  10. No hazardous materials may be used. Mercury, propellant, incendiary or explosive materials are prohibited

Weight and Appearance

  1. The Registration Number label supplied as part of the official registration confirmation shall be affixed to the car prior to check-in, in accordance with instructions provided with registration confirmation.
  2. Each car should have, as part of its design or labeling, identifying marks or design elements that indicate proper direction of travel unless direction of travel is not important. A car that lacks such marks or design elements may be placed incorrectly on the track and may be run backwards. A car may not be re-run if it was run backwards as a result of design that could reasonably be expected to be oriented the way it was run.
  3. Weight shall not exceed 5.0 ounces. Cars may be hollowed out and built up to the maximum weight by the addition of other materials or objects provided that such are securely built into the body or attached securely enough to prevent falling off or becoming separated from the car during normal race activity. (Normal Race Activity refers to traditional timed or match-race downhill events. This does not include collision or impact-type events).
  4. The readings of the Official Race Scale(s) will be considered final.
  5. If a car weighs weights more than 5.0oz at check-in, entrant will be permitted to leave the check-in line to modify the car to bring its weight into compliance. Entrant may not modify the car at the check-in station. After completing his modification, entrant must return to the end of the check-in line within 30 min or before check-in for his designated check-in period closes, whichever occurs first.
  6. Details such as steering wheel, driver, spoiler, exhaust pipes, roll bars, decals, painting, and other interior and exterior detail are permitted as long as they cannot become separated from the car during normal race activity and as long as the car, together with any detail attachments, still satisfies length, width, clearance, and weight specifications.
  7. Cars with wet paint or wet glue will not be accepted.

Wheels and Axles (Open Division entries are exempt from the additional requirements under this section.)

  1. The only wheels and axles allowed are from the B.S.A. Official Pinewood Derby Kits nos. 1622, 1622A, 7610, 17003, 17006, or 17007 or from the “Stock Car Kit Special Edition”.
  2. Wheel bearings, spacers or bushings are prohibited.
  3. The car shall not ride on any type of springs.
  4. Only the tread surface and width of a wheel may be altered. The tread surface may not be modified to produce any configuration other than flat and parallel with respect to the axis of the axle bore. The tread width may be altered only from the side facing the body of car and may not be less than .275”. The wheel diameter may not be less than 1.150” nor greater than 1.200”. Lightly sanding and/or polishing the tread of the wheel to remove imperfections and/or mold marks will not normally reduce the diameter below this minimum. Should it prove impossible to remove imperfections or true a wheel without reducing its diameter to less than the specified minimum dimension, another approved wheel should be substituted.
  5. Materials, other than permanent paint decoration or lettering highlights, may not be removed or added to the wheels except as stated above or as in II.c.7. below.
  6. The backside (wheel side) of the axle heads may be ground or filed to remove burs. Axle shaft diameter may not be less than .085” at any point that contacts or could contact the interior of the wheel’s axle bore. Simple polishing of the axle should not reduce its diameter below the allowable level.
  7. No wheel covers (i.e. hubcaps) are permitted unless their function is for decoration only and not to measurably alter the weight or performance of the wheel. Decorative wheel covers that hide the ends of the nail-axles must be removable for inspection purposes. In particular, no covers designed to provide a reservoir for lubrication materials may be employed

Lubrication

  1. The use of aromatic-free oils as well as solid lubricants such as powdered or flake graphite and teflon is permitted. (Benzene and other aromatics have been essentially eliminated from most commonly available lubrication oils, making the use of aromatic-free oils as well as solid lubricants such as powdered or flake graphite and teflon permissible).
  2. Excessive lubrication is prohibited as it may damage equipment or floors.
  3. All lubrication is to be done offsite, away from race and track areas, or onsite in designated workshop or race preparation areas only, if such are provided.
  4. All lubrication residue must be wiped clean from any external body or wheel part(s) prior to inspection.

Endnote

Registration will include a voluntary good-faith estimate of the Cub Scout’s participation (“Cubness Factor”) in the actual design and construction of his car. This factor will generally be specified as an overall percentage indicating how much of the car was completed by the Cub Scout. This estimate is not meant to be limiting in any way or to discourage parental involvement and assistance. Nor is it meant to imply that a Tiger Cub’s accomplishment in being involved at a limited level in his first efforts is any less important or significant than that of a Webelos Scout who has completed substantially all or most of his car after years of experience.

Different Cubs’ interest and skill levels advance at different rates. It is expected that a Tiger Cub’s involvement will be substantially less “hands-on” than at the Webelos level and that a progression of increased involvement will occur. (It is, however, essential that each Cub be involved in some material way in the construction of his car).

Safety is at all times paramount when it comes to using sharp or power tools and a parent’s direction is absolutely expected. However, if a Cub is indeed capable of accomplishing a particular construction or design step, he should be encouraged to do so in line with the general Scouting standard of doing his best.

The parent should avoid the impulse of taking over or stepping in merely because a particular task can be accomplished at a higher quality level or faster by the parent. The point is for the Cub’s skill level to progressively increase with experience. This can only occur with actual hands on “ownership” of as much of the process as the individual Cub can command.

The Cubness Factor will be used only in the event that ties occur that are not resolvable by any other means. In such cases, ties will be resolved in favor of the car that has the greater percentage of Cub involvement.