OKC_Scouter

Unfortunately, with the exception of the rule "Cars should be built by the Cub Scouts" (which can be difficult to prove at best), there is nothing in the rule sheet included in each derby kit that would disqualify an engineered car bought on eBay. This is why units should always distribute their own official rules well in advance of the race. I would recommend any unit include the following in their Pinewood Derby rules: 1. Tigers/Cubs/Webelos shall build a new car and shall not re-race a car already entered in a previous year's Pinewood Derby. 2. Tigers/Cubs/Webelos shall not race a pre-built car that was obtained or purchased from someone else. 3. Tigers/Cubs/Webelos shall use the official BSA wheels and axles that came in his car kit. 4. The exterior of the wheels may be lightly sanded to remove material left over from the plastic casting proccess. No other material may be removed from the wheel nor may the wheel surface or hub be modified in any way. 5. The axles may be lightly filed under the nail head to remove the 'burr' material left over from matufacturing process. No other material may be removed from the axle nor may the shape of the nail head be modified in any way. 6. When attached to the car, the distance between the front and rear wheel axles shall be 4 and 3/8 inches, which is the distance between the pre-cut axle slots. From experience, I'm sure the $100 Ebay car had an extended custom wheelbase, coned wheel hubs (reduced friction between wheel/car) and beveled axle heads (reduced friction between wheel/nail head). All of these would violate the rules above and would be visible when the car was inspected. Here is a link to the rules of a Council Pinewood Derby that includes some great examples that address the wheels and axles in detail... http://badenpowellok.org/pdfs/PW_Derby_Rules_09.pdf