Derby Talk

My kid wants to start doing Pinewood Derby’s and I’m lost. Is this a good jumping off point? Please advise! http://stories.madcards.com/3023/82785/ ... ndsandRace

This is a good place to start, http://www.derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7867

Along with Randy's recommendation, I recommend you buy "Build a Winning Pinewood Derby Car" by Troy Thorne, 2013 Edition. There is a wealth of GOOD information and you can keep going back to it. After you and your scout have read it a couple of times, ask your questions on Derby talk. Hopefully it is still available at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. If you are unable to find one, email me.
Best of Luck in your future races.

Welcome!
Everything you need is here. Type in "Pro Railrider Tool" by Derbyworx on Youtube and watch the first few minutes of the video. It's the best one I've seen for showing what a railrider steer setup looks like. Railriding is the fastest way down the track that I know of.

My boy and I went from not even being in top 3 in our Den to the next year being 1st in Den, setting Track Record at Districts and then coming in 7th out of 47 cars at Council. This is really 7th out of 3,176 cars in the entire Council at his rank. All with info from this site. Ask questions, let the folks here know what rules your dealing with. Link them to a post so everyone can read them and can better help you. It does take time to read everything though but you've already cracked open the door here so keep going.

The book mentioned is also great. It doesn't cover everything but it gives you all the info you need to be fast.

BTW, don't let this little block of wood with wheels take over your life, your wife will not approve. I'm just sayin'

Begin with a simple design that is within the scope of tools you currently have to work with. Plan out your build around the tools you have as well. Write down a checklist and do your build in steps. That way you can search derby talk for all the anwers prior to beginning those steps. Start early and limit the amount of time you and your son work on those steps. This will keep your son involved throughout the build without him getting bored. This is what my son and I did. We spread ours build out over a 4 month period limiting time worked on the car to 30 minutes to an hour each time on the weekends. That may sound like a long time. But,I learned early on that trying to do to much at one time he would rush through it and loose intrest to fast. Patience..Patience...Patience..Like Davet said all the answers are right here on derby talk. All of these guys are awesome for sharing their tips and techniques. Good Luck!

There is a lot of good information here also http://5kidsracing.webs.com/