Pinewood Derby Car Racing and the Pinewood Pro Story

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the pinewoodderby experts since 1995!

Humble Beginnings
My Cub Scout Pinewood Derby Story

Yes, I was a Cub Scout. Cub Scout Pack 68 met in the St. Francis Church Hall in New Haven, CT. I still have many, many fond memories of my days as a Cub Scout. It was exciting, challenging and most of all fun to do the activities with my Father and friends. I had the added joy of being in a den with my brother, Henry (more on him later), and cousin, Jeffrey.

Looking back, I realize that working through my Cub Scout activities helped me discover my love of "building things" and figuring out how they worked. I remember vividly reading through my Cub Scout books to find the next cool thing to build. Dad or my Den leader were there to answer my questions or help if I got stuck. As I grew up, I continued to build or repair things, like old radios or restoring my first car, a '68 Firebird when I was in High School. I also enjoyed camping in the Adirondacks with my family. Scouting was a natural for me.

As I finished up High School and I had to choose a college major, the choice was easy for me - engineering, because engineers build things! Looking back, I attribute much of my desire to become an engineer to my excitement doing Scout projects as a boy.

Naturally, the most exciting Cub Scout event of the year for me was pinewoodderby car racing. I loved the idea of designing and building my own cool, little car out of a block of pine wood (with a little help from my Dad).

I carved and sanded (I don't think electricity was invented yet!) my pine wood block seemingly for hours. I kept thinking, "Could I actually build the fastest car and win 'fastest derby car' in the Pack?" I couldn't wait to race my car against my friends, brother and especially my cousin for bragging rights.

Well, race day finally came. I was about 8 years old and my first PinewoodDerby race was a memorable one alright.

In our very first heat, my car and my brother's car were perched on the top of the track. My heart was beating fast with anticipation. The pin dropped, then BOOM...nothing happened! What the heck?

Well, actually my car raced to the bottom with the other cars, finishing dead last. I was the lucky one. My car actually made it to the finish line but nobody noticed my car because everyone's eyeballs were glued to my brother's car. You see, his car didn't move at all! It just sat there at the top of the track. A silence fell over the crowd until one of the older boys pointed and yelled, "Look! Henry's car has rigor mortis!" (1).

Everyone's eyebrows rose as they leaned forward and stared. Finally, someone grabbed a ruler and pushed his car. It reluctantly moved a few feet then stopped again, seemingly to ask, "which way does gravity go again?" It never did reach the bottom. Someone mercifully pulled it off the track for a few, um, adjustments.

Hmmm, do you think we had the wheels a little too tight? Uh, did we forget to remove those sticky little burrs under the axle head? Did we misalign the wheels? Was the car perhaps a little underweight? Drum roll, please...answer? All of the above. Basically, we didn't have a clue how to make a pinewoodderby car, let alone know the speed secrets to make the car competitive.

My brother, cousin and I look back and laugh but at the time we were devastated. Nobody wants their car to be nicknamed, "flat tire" or "blow out". I certainly didn't want my son, nor any other child, to go through something like that. Today, I receive many, many pinewood stories of how Pinewood Pro has helped thousands of beginners and experts alike build a fast, winning pinewood derby car.

My years as a Pinewood derby Race Manager

While my son was in Cub Scouts, I managed the Pinewoodderby event for Pack 468 in Trumbull, CT. It was gratifying to help the Pack, work with the parents and a thrill to watch the boys race their cars. For the vast majority of cub scouts, pinewood derby is the best event of the year. It was fun and exciting for everyone. There was, however, one aspect of being the race manager that I didn't like.

Each year we made Pinewood derby participant trophies for every child in the Pack. We even spent the extra money to have each trophy engraved with the scout's name. Every Cub Scout that showed up got a trophy. At the end of the race, I was always deeply saddened to see a small group of trophies leftover, sitting on the table. These were the trophies of those Cub Scouts who never showed up on race day! Why???

Over time, I learned that building a pinewood derby car was beyond the skill level of some parents. So their Cub Scouts simply didn't participate.

Each year I offered to help anyone that needed it.just ask. I pleaded for them to "just ask". I taught a "Pinewood Derby school" to get beginners started. We setup a car tune-up "pit" to fine tune each car before the race to help them be competitive. Finally, I wrote Pinewood Derby in Six Steps to help beginners build their car. It also includes a bonus section on "Speed Essentials" to make their car competitive. Now, all I have to do is point people to the book so everyone can participate!

Pinewood Derby Car Racing
Do Your Best

After the first year of doing not-so-well in our Cub Scout pack race, my son and I were the team to beat every year. We were the new Pro Team. Everyone wanted to know our secrets.

When Steve moved on to Boy Scouts, I wrote Winning Pinewood Derby Secrets that divulged all of our speed tips for building a winning pinewood derby car to help others. (That's Steve and I on the cover after winning the District Championship).
I update it yearly so you get the most complete list
of speed tips on the market.

Every year when Steven and I completed our car,
I always repeated these words, "Whatever happens at
the race, win or lose, we did our best...and doing
your best is what counts most".

We are here to help you do your best.

Work hard, have fun and God Bless.

Joe and Steve Gargiulo, Pinewood Pro

PS: Keep those e-mails coming to proteam@pinewoodpro.com and send a picture of your cool pinewood derby
car so we can add it to our derby car picture gallery!

(1) OK, I made up the riger mortis line (couldn't resist) but the rest is the God's honest truth! Just ask my brother Henry.