For Pack 16, It's Pine Wood Derby Time

It happens every year around this time. Cub Scouts across America are given a block of pine wood, some nails and four small plastic wheels. 

This is the stuff racing dreams are made on.

For the next couple of weeks the boys and their dads take those basic elements and transform them into high-performance racing machines. Attention is given every last detail. The boys and their dads (did we nention the dads?) know that success or failure can be determined by a thousandth of a second.

The results are wide-ranging. Some of the race cars look like they were purchased at a specialty shop. Other still look pretty much like the original block of pine wood. There are points given for appearance, but the real test is on the track.

Let the races begin.