Been a long while since I have sent a Pinewood Derby car down the track, but we had a very good time: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/news/getting-ready-for-the-roles-with-some-pinewood/
(My wife's car broke on the starting line, but they held her race and gave us a replacement wheel--so that was nice.)
And duh, gotta thank message boarder (and friend) kabel for helping with the wheel change. We changed that wheel like a NASCAR crew.
Helping my sons with their cars now. We've had some good years and some where we finished off the pace. I fondly remember my elder son's car of last year, which was a more ambitious design than in years past. During final assembly, some wood broke out around the front axle, and I made a hasty repair with glue, being pretty sure at the time that his car wasn't going to be able to run straight, and might not even make it through the heats without falling apart. I suspect I was more surprised than he was when his car took top honors in the Pack. Pretty sure it was the aero package that did the trick! 
Are the three-lane tracks now the norm? I remember ours having six or so lanes. Still, fun stuff.
In reply to David S. Wallens:
Yah, I think so. Even the fancy extruded aluminum tracks at our District race were three lanes. Of course, most of them also included fancy digital electronic timers that showed ET's to three decimal places.
One of my most prized positions is a second place trophy from the regional pinewood derby with the church boy-scout-knockoff organization. I remember it being a huge deal to my child self. Actually it's still a big deal since it's the only racing related trophy I have.
30 years ago, my fried was out of town on business. Took his son to compete in the Pinewood derby in the basement of a church. His car barely made it off the track. Turned to the kids mom and asked her what eps he had in her purse that was oily. Handed me hand cream. Applied it to the axles, first run down the ramp,,and across the floor to the wall. I rite parent challenged us after inspecting our car. He wanted another run. Not required but no problem. Same thing, shut him down big time for a huge back up win...
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