Derby Talk

last year our county wide meet there were alomst half the entrys were the pre-cut hobby shop model cars, even the grand winner was a model car

our troop was told to use the "rules in the box" and they state only offical BSA PWD cars are allowed

i wrote to local scout chapeter here on long island, nassau county, ny theordore roosvelt BSA councel to tell them they should stick to the rules and disqualify the hobby shop cars

i feel they should tel all the troops when they hand out the offical car kits so there are no disappointed kids on race day

what do you all think? i have not heard back from my letter yet

dino pinch
roslyn,ny

roslynny wrote:last year our county wide meet there were alomst half the entrys were the pre-cut hobby shop model cars, even the grand winner was a model car

our troop was told to use the "rules in the box" and they state only offical BSA PWD cars are allowed

i wrote to local scout chapeter here on long island, nassau county, ny theordore roosvelt BSA councel to tell them they should stick to the rules and disqualify the hobby shop cars

i feel they should tel all the troops when they hand out the offical car kits so there are no disappointed kids on race day

what do you all think? i have not heard back from my letter yet

Welcome aboard, Dino! I hope your stay with us will be very useful.

I strongly agree that only official BSA kit wheels and axles should be used in the BSA Pinewood Derbies. The "hobby shop" bodies are another matter, in my opinion. Here are some reasons.

1. I can readily distinguish the wheels and axles.

2. I can not readily distinguish the body cut from the kit block from the precut "hobby shop" bodies, unless the kit block body deviates from all of the shop bodies.

3. The "hobby shop" bodies are "okay", performance wise, but not very exceptional. They are not the make/break component. What you will learn here just might put your son's car at the top of the heap. A lot of critical performance issues are discussed inthis forum.

On responses from Council HQ, well, frankly, they don't all have a good track record on addressing controversies. I filed a comprehensive critique (4 or 5 pages typewritten) of a neighboring council's PWD and included a CD full of pictures. Never heard "boo." I saw the next year that some had been addressed, but far from all ... some traditions were just too strong, I guess.

This might be understandable, though. The office staff forwards such corresondence to the responsible professional staff advisor, and he/she forwards it to the chairman of the responsible Council Committee, and he/she forwards it to the event chairman who (at best) files it for inclusion in the next year's event planning cycle.

So, with so many folks handling the correspondence, it is likely that each assumed that someone else acknowledged it. Or not.