As racing season approaches, area competitors are preparing their vehicles for the track.
For some young Scouts in advance of the Pinewood Derby, that means getting some help in turning their wooden blocks into hot rods, especially if their parents don’t happen to have a band saw available.
“For parents and for kids the hardest part of making a Pinewood Derby car is cutting it into shape,” said Steve Noel, owner of HobbyTown in Orland Park.
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For nearly a decade, Noel has been offering free Sunday afternoon clinics for racers. He’s transformed part of his store into a Pinewood garage where he’s also installed a test track.
The Pinewood Derby is annual racing event that was started in 1953 by a Cub Scout pack in California, according to the Boy Scouts of America website, which rapidly became popular among Scouts nationwide. It features wooden cars about seven inches long that are propelled by weight and gravity down a custom track. Scouts are given a kit containing a block of wood and wheels they must craft into their entry.
The derbies often are held in late winter or spring.
Mike Listan Jr. brought his son, Mike Listan III, 6, to the workshop Sunday in advance of the younger Listan’s first derby, with Orland Park Cub Scout Pack 372 in February.
“He’s been tons of help,” Listan said. “We’re very excited.”
The younger Listan picked his car’s shape from dozens of templates on paper in Noel’s workshop.
He then cut out the shape and glued it onto a block of pine wood as a guide for Noel as he cut it with his band saw.
Solomon Jackson, 9, also of of Pack 372, chose a sleek, aerodynamic template after carefully considering his options and then handed his unshaped racer to Noel.
“There’s a bunch of theories on what shape works best,” Noel said. But he said a wedge design probably helps with speed.
Jackson will compete in his fourth race this year and has won first place in the past.
His mother, Lisa Hendricks, said proper weight placement on the back of the car also is critical for a speedy run down the track.
Competitors attach the plastic wheels to their cars using nails, and many apply a powdery lubricant.
Hendricks said the axle must be straight, so the wheels don’t wobble, which would slow the car down.
Most Scout packs include a weight requirement for the cars. For most, including Pack 372, it’s 5 ounces. Noel’s templates and band saw work often reduce the 4.5 ounce blocks of wood to between 1 and 2 ounces, and it’s up to the racers to build the weight back to the limit. The closer they can get to the limit without going over the faster they will be on race day.
“The most important with this is placement of the weights and getting it to five ounces,” Noel said.
Gavin Poortinga, 8, also of Pack 372, another important part is making the car look cool with paint and decals.
Poortinga, who will be competing in his third derby, was designing a police car.
Though the Pinewood Derby’s origins date back more than six decades, it remains popular with both youngsters and parents alike.
“The race allows him to use his hands and brains and get off video games,” Hendricks said.
In an age when many kids are turning almost exclusively to screens for their entertainment, Noel said offering the workshop takes on additional importance.
“We don’t have virtual reality,” he said. “We have real reality.”
The free Pinewood Derby clinics are every Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. through the end of February at HobbyTown, 15551 S. 94th Ave., Orland Park.
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Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.