This is year 2 for our pine wood derby races. I wanted to have fun with Michael, get creative, and make sure he felt good with the finished product and learned a little while building it. Here's what I've learned so far:

Start with a plan - I've created a pinewood derby planning sheet to help Michael try out a bunch of different designs. He wasn't too fond of this extra step last year, but this year, he enjoyed it.

I talked to the father of the child who won the design trophy and he said they spent a fair amount of time thumbing through automotive magazines for ideas. Since we don't have any automotive magazines in the house, we'll probably do a couple of google image searches (Ie. car & hot rod) next year.

Tools & Techniques - If you are lucky enough to have a bandsaw, use it. Otherwise, a simple coping saw and a lot of elbow grease work well. You will want to carve out space for the weights in the bottom of the car. Start by drilling a few holes close together (be careful not to go through the car), then use a utility knife to scrape away the remaining wood.

Don't carve the space for the weights to close to the grooves for the axles, it wil chip away when installing the wheels.

Performance - If you want to win, your greatest ally is weight, and your worst enemy is friction. The following techniques are required if you want a competitive car.

• Use a good scale and get as much weight as you can without exceeding the five ounce limit.
• Bring small screws that you can add to the car during weigh in.
• Check your alignment. Poor alignment will have the wheels rubbing against the side of the car and the track causing unnecessary friction.
• Polish your axles.
• Lubricate your wheels and axels well with graphite.

Here are a few good reference sites:

• Pinewood derby performance experiments - This is a really interesting site detailing a scientific approach to building a faster car.
• Pinewood Derby Car Design - Summary on good car design.
• Unusual Derby Cars - Includes photos of very creative derby cars. A neat source for inspiration.