CRESTVIEW — Cub Scouts from throughout Okaloosa County will compete in the district Pinewood Derby runoff March 8 at Santa Rosa Mall.
And area scouts saw plenty of excitement on Saturday, when they saw many hours of work go hurtling down the tracks.
PHOTOS: View photos of Pinewood Derby action >>
VIDEO: Watch Pinewood Derby video >>
Cub Scouts and Webelos from two Crestview packs and one from Holt raced wooden cars down tracks set up in the Crestview Elks lodge and Bob Sikes Elementary School's cafeteria. .
Webelos Garrett Lingenfelter, 9, anxiously watched as his car zoomed down the track, placing third in one heat and fourth in another.
"Mine wasn't very fast, I guess," he said, though his car attained the equivalent of nearly 130 mph. Still, he cheered fellow scouts in the spirit of sportsmanship.
'A lot of work'
Each boy puts in six or more hours of work on his car after adult leaders help cut a block of wood to the boy's design specifications, parent volunteer Don Snyder said.
"We encourage them to do most of the work themselves, but obviously we don't want a bunch of first-graders handling power tools," Pack 530 Cub Master Chip Corbin said.
Caleb Bergstrom, 8, of Pack 530, said "a lot of work" went into creating his green car, emblazoned with a big "1."
Other fanciful races included a bus, a Volkswagen Beetle, a pencil, a log truck, a Hershey bar, a police cruiser and a car carved to look like it was assembled from Legos.
And at least six boys submitted a Batmobile among 101 vehicles racing at the Elks lodge, Snyder said.
Weight conscious
Scoutsaffixed fishing weights and coins to their cars to attain the maximum 5-ounce weight. One racer had two stones hot-glued in the driver and passenger seats.
Holt Pack 532 Cub Master Pam Lehman brought her pack to the Elks lodge to race while Pack 530 took its lunch break.
"Our track is kind of old," she said. "They're (Pack 530) very generous for hosting us."
Cooperative efforts also were displayed at Bob Sikes Elementary.
There, Boy Scouts Jackson Kiewiet of Troop 30 and Nathan Behr of Troop 773 positioned the cars at the head of the track, releasing them on Pack 799 Cub Master Ryan Kilian's order.
"Anything to help the Cubs," Jackson said.
Hot chili goes with hot wheels
Ten Crestview Cub Scout Pack 799 parents participated in a chili cook-off following Saturday's Pinewood Derby, Tiger Den leader LeAnn Fairfield said. Four judges selected winners, and the boys and their families voted for their favorites.
Winners were as follows:
First Place: Jeff Kiewiet
Second(tie): Jennifer Stewart and Viviana Lasher
Third: Amanda Rodriquez
Crowd favorite: Jeff Kiewie
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Derby Day: Cub Scout packs vie for Pinewood Derby runoff (PHOTOS, VIDEO)