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Boy Scouts find competition at 'Pinewood Derby' races
By GARY REMAL
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 02/25/2008

AUGUSTA -- Hussey School fifth-grader Aaron Bernier has had his share of success racing his Cub Scout model "Pinewood Derby" car.

But winning on the 30-foot-long, computerized wooden race track is not what has drawn him back to race again and again for the past four years.

"You have to build your own car and it takes a little bit of work," Bernier said. Several weeks work, for most competitive racers, he acknowledged.

Even so, "It's pretty fun after all," he said Sunday, during the final Pinewood Derby in which he would compete as a member of Augusta Cub Scout Pack 603.

"Last year I came in third. The first year I didn't do too good. But I didn't really care," he said.

But he has learned a lesson race drivers all over the world know well.

"It's just about how much effort you put into it," Bernier said. "If you don't put much effort into it, it will stink. If you put effort into it, you're going to do good."

Bernier was among about 40 Cub Scouts from Augusta Pack 603 who gathered at American Legion Post 205 on Eastern Avenue Sunday to race their handbuilt model cars and capture a bit of big-time racing spirit.

Scouts in grades one through five each race their Pinewood Derby cars at least five times, more if they make the finals, Cub Master Chuck Mahaleris explained.

Pinewood Derby race cars are purchased as kits so each scout begins with a similar block of wood and set of wheels from which their race creation will emerge.

The contest has very strict weight and size restrictions to keep the competition tight.

Mahaleris said the scout model car racing program has a long tradition within Cub Scouting that goes back decades.

"Pinewood Derby is as much a part of Cub Scouts as outdoor camping trips," Mahaleris said. "It's something the kids always look forward to."

He remembers building his own model racer as a scout in Massachusetts, the cub master said. Now his third-grade son Theodore is enjoying the pastime along with several other second-generation parent-child racing teams in his pack.

"I made Pinewood Derby cars when I was a kid," Mahaleris said. "Now he's a Bear in third grade and this is his third race."

But Pack 603 officials eschew the more competitive side of the Pinewood Derby tradition, preferring to focus on the project as a way to bring Cub Scouts and their parents closer together, working on a common project.

"At our pack we focus on sportsmanship and on the parent-son activity," he said.

Some scouts choose to go on to regional competitions, but he said competition there can be fierce.

That's not to say the pack's own winners are not recognized. Trophys are handed out for the three fastest cars and the three cars judged best in design.

And the youngest of the competitors are all recognized, Mahaleris said.

"Every Tiger Cub, who are first-graders, all leave with a trophy, no matter what. That's a tradition in our pack," he said.

Tiger Cub Leland Bailey, 6, was in his first race, sporting a metallic green pickup truck with a rear wing that took him and his dad, Chris, about six weeks to complete.

A Hussey first-grader, Leland said he picked his design from a host of vehicles he saw "on the computer."

Racers as young as Leland need to be prepared, however, for the rigors of even-tempered competition like that offered by Pack 603, Chris Bailey said. "We talked about it, that the sport of it is in the building and seeing your car go down the road."

Nick Berry, a Farrington School fifth-grader, said Sunday would be only his second and final race. He said he learned the hard way last year the impact of inexperience on success on the track.

"This will be my last year and I'm a little disappointed it'll be only two years I've raced."

The pack has its own slanted track that scouts use for practice and preparation for the big race, Mahaleris said. But for the race itself they borrow one that has computerized electronic timing equipment, which is not only more accurate but allows the races to move more quickly.

Mahaleris said a successful race requires more than just drivers, a team of parents is needed to do much of the behind-the-scenes work as well.

"It takes about 10 adults to really pull off the Pinewood Derby," Mahaleris said.

Gary Remal -- 621-5642

gremal@centralmaine.com

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