Princeton Cub Scouts Take to the Track for Annual Pinewood Derby

Members of Princeton Cub Scout Pack 43 put their imaginative wood car creations on display and tested their speed at The Pinewood Derby annual racing event, held Saturday at Littlebrook Elementary School. 

The Pinewood Derby is a racing event for Cub Scouts in which scouts build their own car creations from a block of wood and then race them on an official Cub Scout Pinewood Derby track against other pack members in a fun-filled competition.  

Awards are given for the fastest cars and for most imaginative vehicle designs. 

An annual  tradition since 1953, the Pinewood Derby is designed as a parent-scout activity in which they work together to design, carve, paint, and fine tune their custom made creation.

Some of the prize winners are listed below: 

Fastest Car

• Charles Luo (1st place)
• Zachary Okoye (2nd place) 
• Crispin Yoo (3rd place)

Most Imaginative Car

• Elijah Rand (1st place for banana car)
• Dante Orlando (2nd Place for car modeled after Chess game King piece)Matthew Tolin (3rd place for R2D2 driven futuristic race car)

Among the creations was a true Princeton original:  Albert Einstein in the drivers seat of a car shaped like a piece of pie (no, it did not finish in 3.14 seconds).

This year’s event featured an open adult competition.  Gearing up their inner child were Pack 43 Cubmaster Bill French and Troop 43 assistant scoutmaster and pack liaison Adrienne Rubin who showed off and raced their own wooden creations.