How to Build a Pinewood Derby Car Track

If you are handy with wood, you can build your own track but it will take time and a bit of effort.

A few things to think about before you get started:

• What size of track do you need? Most tracks have between two and four lanes. Two lanes are fine if less than 20 boys are going to race. Three lanes are fine for up to 30 racers. Four lanes should be used for groups above 30. Electronic timers are worth the cost for three and four lane tracks.
• Wood tracks are usually 32 feet long and aluminum tracks are 45 feet long.  Alunimum provides a smoother surface than wood and is more durable. The advantage of wood is that you can usually scrounge up most of the material at low cost.
• The track should be about four feet high at the starting gate. The finishing line is usually at ground level but you might consider raising the whole track several inches for better visibility.
• The track should slope from about 30 degrees at the start line changing gradually to 0 degrees about 12 feet from the start line then another 16 feet of flat track to the finish line. The remainder of the track is an overrun area to allow the cars to slow.
• Keep transportation in mind when you are designing your track. You will want to break the track down into manageable pieces.
• Each lane of your track is going to be slightly different, giving the car in that lane a slight advantage or disadvantage over the cars in the other lanes. Be sure that each car has the opportunity to race in more than one lane.
• Most electronic timers are built to fit specific commercial tracks.
• If possible, set your track up several hours (or days) before the event and encourage your racers to bring their cars in to practice using the track. This will give them a chance to get familiar with the track and to fine tune their cars.

There are some very good plans with detailed instructions for building a track on the Internet. One that we recommend is at http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/derby/track/

If you would rather buy a track, we recommend:
Best Track
Piantedosi Oars

There are several high quality timers available for your track. We recommend:
SmartLine Finish Line Timer
Intelligent Automation's Timestopper timers
SuperTimer
Micro Wizard

If you just need a track to test your car or hold your own informal races, we offer a practice track at a resonable price

More about our Practice Track

 

---

If you've found this page useful, please link to this page
or any other page on this site so that others can benefit.