Cub master Don Murphy of Pack 280c organized the first of
these Pinewood Derby events on May 15, 1953, in Manhattan Beach, California.
Murphy's son was too young to participate in the popular Soap Box Derby races,
so he came up with the idea of racing miniature cars made of wood. The cars
featured the same gravity-powered concept as the full-size Soap Box Derby cars,
but were much smaller and easier to build.
Today, Cub Scouts build a special car made of wood for these
races that usually come from kits containing a block of pine, plastic wheels
and metal axles. Putting together these cars is a big part of the fun and a
great way to involve family members and friends in the competition. For this
year’s race, JP decided to build a Ferrari, and Christopher, an avid Corvette
lover, built the Compuware C6R Corvette in homage to the Corvette Racing
team--recent winners of the ALMS GT title.
Excitement was building up as race day came, and the
competitors rolled out their cars to the starting line. All the time spent
building, testing and setting up their entries had led to this moment. With
Ferrari and Corvette being rivals at the world’s most famous race, the 24 Hours
of Le Mans, all eyes were on the Noga boys as they prepared to defend their car’s
honor. Christopher Noga, driving the C6R, took his place behind the wheel and
put together a time of 9.224 in his combined runs of four heats. His brother in
the Ferrari took his runs, driving for all he was worth to put together a four
heat combination time of 9.245. In a performance reminiscent of the 2011 Le
Mans race, Corvette came out on top.
