HOLYOKE — For the third straight year, Gary Rome Hyundai was the site for the Western Massachusetts Council of the Boy Scouts of American Pinewood Derby races, where young scouts put their cars to the test after weeks of preparation in an exciting day of high stakes racing.

Anticipation filled the air inside the car dealership garage building where the four-lane all-aluminum track stretched across the area. Scouts packed in on the sidelines eager to watch their own and others car builds ready to be tested against the best of the best.

The derby races took place on May 21 and featured waves of races amongst different scout ranks including Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Webelos Cub Scouts, both boys and girls in kindergarten to fifth grade. Six-year-old scout David Vibber took home the top overall honors on the day with an average race time of 2.5807 seconds.

The Pinewood Derby is a time-honored tradition in the Cub Scouting program where scouts build small, wooden cars and race them down a track. Each scout designs and builds their own car with the help of their parents. This event was the culmination of town-by-town races held this past winter and spring.
Program Director Gregg Williams said the annual boy scout tradition creates memorable moments for families in preparing for and participating in the race.

“I think what the Pinewood Derby offers is a chance for families to spend time together working on a project over time. Then they get to race at their local level, make some adjustments, learn from that, and make some changes and come back again,” Williams said. “It also reminds the scouts that often in their own community, scouting is a worldwide movement. They come together and they see folks originally from their county and then come here and see folks from all of Western Mass. It’s a great progression for them and reminds them of the fun of scouting.”

All Pinewood Derby cars start as a block of balsa wood that are transformed into unique, fun and fast designs. At the time of the race, cars cannot exceed five ounces in total weight.

“Pinewood Derby racing is one of the program’s annual highlights,” said Assistant Scout Executive for the Western Mass. Council Art Lobdell. “Both youth and parents or guardians really get into the event which promotes creativity, sportsmanship and friendly competition among scouts of all ages.”