The Track

My 4 lane all aluminum track is up to 46 ft long. Individual group races run best on the shorter 38 ft length. It has a brake ramp system which stops the cars without impact to a barrier. The photo-electric finish line timer reports finishes in microseconds and has a resolution of 8 microseconds. A laptop PC running my custom software manages assignment of cars to each heat and calculates the average (or best of 4) time of each car. I also bring an electronic scale and several pans to assist in handling the cars. My track is designed to run standard BSA pinewood derby cars. That is 7" long, 2.75" wide, 5" high, 1.75" between wheels, 3/8" under body and 5 oz weight.

  

 

Note the construction of my track lanes.  Clearance below the car is quite liberal within limits.  To allow for lane wander, if your weights extend more than 1/8 inch below the car, they should be placed no closer than 3/8" to either edge of hte bottom of the car.

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The recommended pit crew to help manage the track is 2 for the staging area, 1 for the starting gate and one to retrieve the cars. Of course, additional assistance is always appreciated. An MC should be chosen to announce the car numbers and lane assignments for each race. Your assistance is requested to keep youth away from the track. Operating the starting line and placing objects under the finish line detectors will interfere with track set up and registration.