After the snows and wind of Nemo passed through Saturday, George Grant Mason school in Tuxedo sprang to life Sunday afternoon for some good old-fashioned car racing. The scouts of Cub Scout Pack 2146 revved up the wood block engines their hand made cars and put on a serious competition.

“Cub Scouts look forward all year to the derby,” said Brian Colton, a Sloatsburg resident and Webelos 1 Leader. “It is definitely the signature event of the cub scouting year. Cars are given out after the December pack meeting to all scouts, and they spend months, or sometimes just days, designing, cutting and decorating the cars.”

Pack ’46 serves the Sloatsburg and Tuxedo communities and currently has approximately 45 members. A total of 50 racers took part in the derby. The pack is divided into various dens of seven to ten members, according to age — Tiger Cubs (first grade), Wolf Cub Scouts (second grade), Bear Cub Scouts (third grade) and Webelos Scouts (fourth and fifth grades).

The annual derby challenges scouts — with a little help from family members (okay, a lot) — to create a brand new design out of their wood block car kit. Finished cars must must weigh 5 oz or less — official weigh-in for the event was held Thursday evening at the Tuxedo Train Station. All derby cars must have a specific, maximum length and must use all the official kit parts (block, wheels, axles).

Creativity and ingenuity usually win out at the derby, which requires scouts to get the most out of their hunk of wood as they raced via gravity down a five lane sloping wooden track. Pack dens competed in race “heats” to determine a 1st/2nd/3rd place finisher. Scout members brothers and/or sisters were invited to participate in the Siblings Race. The winners of each bracket then faced off to see which car was the fastest in the pack.

Part car race, part car pageant, the scouts’ cars are also judged in creative and fun categories such as best paint job, funniest car, crowd favorite, and most careful driver. Boy Scouts from local Troop 46 helped judge the race and assist the pack in putting on the race.

All scouts went home with at least a participant ribbon, as well as a few tips and dreams for next year’s car design.

“Now that the derby is over, we look forward to our blue and gold event where our Webelos 2’s move up to Boy Scouts,” Colton said, adding that the pack has a busy schedule. “We have a number of hikes and outdoor adventures planned for the spring.”

Brian Colton generously contributed to this article, including photos.