My son had his first ever Pinewood Derby last year. We did research before the build and determined the wheels and axles are the key to speed.
My son was able to design his own car and paint scheme while I handled the rolling stock.
The axles were polished with emery cloth to almost a mirror finish. I then made sure all four tires were true round and without and burrs. I used some pop rivet spacer washers on the axles between the tires and body. Furniture polish was used on the axles and inside the wheel hubs. NO GRAPHITE! if mixed with the furniture polish it will become sticky.
Final test is to make sure the axles are installed square so the car will roll straight on a flat surface. Any pull will rub off speed on the track divider.
Nothing ultra high tech with our setup at all. We ended up with the 3rd fastest car out of 39 cars. I discovered the first place car was running special order axles and probably some other tricks as well. The second place car was overweight at the weigh in after the final. SoOO technically we were the fastest legal car there. But it was a friendly Church Derby so we took our third place award ($10 Gift Certificate) and were happy to just make the final four.
The topper was my son's car won the design award in a unanimous vote which garnered him another gift certificate and the only kid who won two awards at the event. He could not have been more pleased with our results!
