Jim wrote:
My son competed in his second Pinewood Derby a couple of weeks ago.
Last year he finished dead last. This year he finished 3rd from dead
last. I would like to ask for some diagnostic help from more
experienced Pinewood Derby racers. Last year and this year I read a
good bit of the material available on the Web and I thought we paid
attention to all of the important factors. Based on the behavior of
his car on the track in both years, I suspect that we had a weight
location problem.

We just finished the Pinewood Derby today. This year my son came in
second, last year third, but it's a very small pack, just 21 scouts.

I think that the key is aligned wheels, deburred wheels, very smooth
axles, and proper lubrication.

The axles need to be filed, then sanded with 180 grit, then 400 grit,
then polished with metal polish.

The wheels need to deburred without making them illegal.

The graphite needs to be put into the hubs before the axles are placed
onto the body, it's hard to get the graphite in after the axles are
installed.

Today's winner was far faster then the 2nd place finisher. The key was
that where the hub of the wheel contacts the body, he had sanded the
body smooth, and rubbed in dry lubricant into the wood where the hub
hits it.

I put the weight in the center. I'm not sure how much difference it
makes, but I've heard that the weight should be toward the back.