Fourteen Boy Scouts from the Chester County Council participated in the 2023 edition of one of the organization’s signature events: the annual Pinewood Derby.

The Pinewood Derby is a creative competition among scouts who — given little more than a block of wood, a quartet of nails and wheels, and the encouragement to use their imaginations — vie for fastest or most eye-appealing car.

History

According to Aaron on Scouting, a scout-centric magazine, the Pinewood Derby got its start in 1953.

A ten-year-old Cub Scout, Donn Murphy of Manhattan Beach, Calif., wanted to compete in the soap-box derby race organized by the company at which his dad, Don, worked.

But Donn was too young, according to the official soap-box derby rules.

Don thought a scaled-down version might appease his son, and the idea of building small-scale racing cars and pitting them against each other was born.

The first set-up reflected the amateur carpentry skills in the Murphy household. The track was a two-lane incline 32 feet long. Its finish line relied on cars’ rolling over recycled doorbells, with the winning lane identified by a lit household light bulb.

The idea then spread to Los Angeles and eventually to the Boy Scouts of America headquarters, newly moved from New York City to New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The second edition of the Pinewood Derby was announced in Boys’ Life (now called Scout Life) magazine, the organization’s official publication.

Don Murphy passed away in 2008 at age 90; it is estimated that more than 100 million Pinewood Derby kits have been purchased and built since the event’s inception.

Chester County Scouts in the Winner’s Circle

The 2023 competition in the Chester County Council yielded the following placements and statistics:

Congratulations to the top-speed standouts and all the participants whose work in the 2023 Pinewood Derby was evident across the competition.

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One Pinewood Derby competitors approach to maximizing a car for speed.