OK, you’ve mad me confess my ignorance. What’s a “pinewood derby.”
Check the urban dictionary.
The Scouts must build their own car from a 'kit' that they buy. All kits are exactly the same, and strict rules are followed. The Scouts develop certain skills in trying to get just the right shape, just the right balance, the most friction free axles, and (it used to be) done in a 'father-son' partnership.
And that was the point. It helped to get fathers involved 'with' their sons Scouting Activities.
The fathers built the 'track' these gravity propelled cars race down. My Dad and his friends (other Scout fathers) built the first Electronically timed track to be used in our Regional Area. And they did it in our basement. Which was very edumakational.