Appoint a Race Master for your group
Determine what date you would like to race
Contact PDXDerbyDudes by filling out the race rental request form.
Hand out cars or instruct parents where to purchase cars. BSA groups should only use BSA-approved cars. Non-BSA-approved cars may not be eligible for District or higher-level racing if available.
We recommend having build weekends, Lowes, and Home Depot will sometimes have Derby build weekends as well you will need to contact them for more information
Build weekends - can have coping saws, scroll saws, bench sanders, Dremels, and other woodworking tools available. Axle class is always good as well (YouTube) will provide many videos on how to prepare axles for Pinewood Derby Racing. A series of weekends is a good idea as it gives those who do not have access to tools a chance to build and create their car. Plus leadership can encourage youth-built cars vs adult-built cars.
Have a car show and tell with your group before race day. This encourages everyone to complete their car before race day.
Weight in and impound. Before race day, we have all racers show up for weigh-ins and car inspections.
Have a tuning table ready (drills, Dremels, graphite). All cars should be race-ready once they pass weigh-ins.
Leadership should inspect the cars for their own rule set as well as PDXDerbyDudes Rules to ensure the car can race on Race day.
Recording the car in the spreadsheet at this time and assigning a number is also suggested. Please make sure the number is placed appropriately on the top rear of the car so it is readable from the rear of the car while sitting on a table. This is critical to PDXDerbydues operation as we use that number to pull and place cars on the track if the numbers are not placed correctly we will ask the host organization to adjust them.
Once cars have passed inspection and weighed in they should be RACE READY (Graphite should be put on before check-in).
After weigh-in, the car should be impounded and stored safely for race day.
Race Day, welcome PDXDerbyDudes into your location work with us on how to best set up the track and directions of track flow. The projector we bring is 4500 lumens and can be seen on most surfaces without a screen needed. The projection should be near the end of the track so your racers and support crew can easily see the cars' finish and the results.
Decorate the race area as needed
Other events: Some organizations like to pack a bunch of events on Race Day. We highly encourage that the racing happens uninterrupted in one segment of the day as breaking the race flow decreases the show's effect on the racers and attention is quickly lost.
Plan snacks and such for your group. We ask that Popcorn and other things that can be TOSSED onto the track be discouraged from the event as cleaning and protecting the track is important.
Sit back and watch the show you worked hard on creating and take all the accolades for a job well done.