Cub Scouts of Pack 604, Port Carbon, put their design skills to the test Sunday during the annual Pinewood Derby held at Fairlane Village mall.
Joel Budwash, den leader, said that while they officially have 52 children who participate and make the wooden cars that race on a metal track in the derby, not all attend.
Scoutmaster Eric Houck said that in the competition, the Scouts are divided by their rank - Lions, Tigers, Bears and Webelows - and the fastest car from each group then competes in an overall pack competition.
All of the cars are made from special Boy Scouts of America kits and have to weigh five ounces, but for those that are underweight, weights are added so that they all weigh the same.
Budwash said that while they are allowed to weigh less than five ounces, the heavier they are, the faster they will travel down the track.
"Some kids work really hard on them so we try to make it as fair as possible," Budwash said. "Some look really good, but they're not that fast."
In addition to trophies for the fastest cars, there also are awards for crowd favorite and most original.
"Sometimes speed doesn't reflect the amount of work put into them," Budwash said.
Houck said all of the cars start out as a block of wood and the Scouts have to cut out the shape and make sure the wheels are as clean as possible.
Scouts can paint the cars any way they want. Some cars had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup painting while others had football and fire truck designs.
"It's a kid-parent activity," Houck said. "Scouting is a very family oriented organization."
One of the Scouts who was excited he won his competition was Xander Martin, 7, of Pottsville. His car has flames painted on it.
"I made one with flames on it because I thought it was going to be faster than the other cars," Martin said.
Each year Scouts must create a new car. They may not enter a car into the derby from previous years.