Derby Talk

It's looking like on Friday, February 10, on the Today Show, the Ford Motor Company will have a Championship race for the Girls Scouts. It will be a single heat of 4 girls. Not sure how the 4 girls were selected. Maybe winners of the Ford Girls' Fast Track races that were held in Detroit, Dallas, Miami, and New Jersey back in October and November?

https://social.ford.com/content/campaig ... races.html

I hope this helps get some more momentum going about getting Girl Scouts more involved in Pinewood Derby racing. Cub Scouts shouldn't be having all of the fun.

A single heat? Shouldn't you run four, if you have four lanes running?

Definitely wanna see more girls in Pinewood Derby, though!

Certainly not ideal. I assume that the Today Show only wanted to show one heat, not several. Anyways, I see this more as a PR thing to build interest and enthusiasm with the girls. The last I heard, Ford is looking to do more races next year with the Girl Scouts.

gpraceman wrote:Certainly not ideal. I assume that the Today Show only wanted to show one heat, not several. Anyways, I see this more as a PR thing to build interest and enthusiasm with the girls. The last I heard, Ford is looking to do more races next year with the Girl Scouts.

Would be nice if they'd also reach out to other Girls' scouting organizations. My daughter loves the Derby and is part of American Heritage Girls, for example.

The Girl Scouts and Pinewood Derby seems to be rather huge in this area. I attended a District race for the Girl Scouts last year to learn more about their organization. They were using the BSA kit and had similar rules as to the ones we race in. The wife of our current Pack leader is the head of a Girl Scout troop and we will be racing 30 Girl Scouts after the cub scouts race. They will be following the rules of the Commodore Perry District. I do not know if there will be a District race for the girls but I can see it in the future. I have a feeling Girl Scouts and Pinewood Derby is going to spread fast. If this comes down from the Higher Ups of the Girl Scouts somebody better gear up for making more kits. I can see it now. A National Race-Off between the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts. I hope they have a set-up like the Mid America does so we can watch it.

As an organization as a whole the Girl Scouts is a steaming cesspool of special interest propaganda, couldn't care less about it. That being stated fact, girls should get to have the fun of pinewood as well! My daughter's My Little Pony car was the overall champion at our pack race last year and she's shooting for a repeat performance this year. If you have daughters, nieces, etc. definitely reach out and get them involved. If you are looking for an organization similar to Scouts, I would recommend American Heritage Girls. I have always wondered if there couldn't be some type of national race combining AWANA, Scouts, and other groups that run Pinewood.

kcarchitect wrote:I have always wondered if there couldn't be some type of national race combining AWANA, Scouts, and other groups that run Pinewood.

A unifying race is a cool idea, but how would you account for varying rulesets and parts?

kcarchitect, I'm a bit surprised Mr. Lisano allowed your post on Derbytalk. However, since he did, and since I am very ignorant about the Girl Scout system, I'm curious about your feelings, and probably some experience you might have had. How you seem to condemn a huge group. Would you expand on what has happened in your life and why you feel the way you do? I'm not familiar with the other groups you mentioned and I'd like to know what they do that is supposedly much better then what the girl scouts do. Maybe we can all make things a bit better for everyone involved. I will talk to Rachel, a leader of a local Girl Scout group that will be racing with us this year, and see what I can learn. Thank You
Cheers
Speedster

That type of discussion would be better off in the off topic forum or through PM.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

Thank you. I will email him.
Best
Speedster

It's firm for Friday, February 10 on the Today Show. Ford is really going all out. They are building a custom track, with more space between lanes than normal and with a taller ramp section. It's being built here in the Denver area and I'm going to get a look at it before they ship it off to New York.

My wife and I went and checked out the custom track for the race yesterday. They basically took two 4 lane Best Tracks and made an 8 lane track with an extra long ramp section. The start is maybe about 10 ft high with a big platform to get up to it. They are blocking off half the lanes, so only 4 lanes will be used. Danica Patrick is to be the race starter, which will be cool. I'll be flying out Wednesday to help out with the track and timer and to help the girls with their cars. It should be a fun experience.

How long is the track?
We're racing 24 Girl Scouts today. I'm eager to see their cars.

Not sure on the track length. My guess is 42ft. I'll make sure to check that and take photos while at the event.

Well, the adventure begins today. All of the crew is flying into NYC tonight. Track will be setup indoors for a rehearsal on Thursday. Then it will be taken apart and moved to the outdoor location at Rockefeller Center. Reassembly starts in the wee hours of Friday morning. The Today Show segment is about 8:30 AM EST. What will really be interesting is the 6-10 inches of snow expected in NYC starting tonight and going through most of Thursday. I'll try to take lots of photos.