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4 lane pinewood derby chart

Four lanes means four runs for every car and 24 heats for a pack of 24. Set your own numbers below and print the schedule, the cards and the tally sheet.

24 cars on 4 lanes: 24 heats, every car once in every lane, and no two cars meet more than once. About 36 minutes of track time.

Every car runs each of the 4 lanes exactly once, no two cars meet more than once, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

Pinewood Derby is a trademark of Scouting America. This chart generator is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Scouting America.

Heat schedule

24 cars, 4 lanes, 24 heats — every car once in every lane
HeatLane 1Lane 2Lane 3Lane 4
1151018
2261119
3371220
4481321
5591422
66101523
77111624
8812171
9913182
101014193
111115204
121216215
131317226
141418237
151519248
16162019
171721210
181822311
191923412
202024513
21211614
22222715
23233816
24244917

Pinewood Derby is a trademark of Scouting America. This chart generator is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Scouting America.

Race cards

  • 1

    1. Heat 1Lane 1
    2. Heat 8Lane 4
    3. Heat 16Lane 3
    4. Heat 21Lane 2

  • 2

    1. Heat 2Lane 1
    2. Heat 9Lane 4
    3. Heat 17Lane 3
    4. Heat 22Lane 2

  • 3

    1. Heat 3Lane 1
    2. Heat 10Lane 4
    3. Heat 18Lane 3
    4. Heat 23Lane 2

  • 4

    1. Heat 4Lane 1
    2. Heat 11Lane 4
    3. Heat 19Lane 3
    4. Heat 24Lane 2

  • 5

    1. Heat 1Lane 2
    2. Heat 5Lane 1
    3. Heat 12Lane 4
    4. Heat 20Lane 3

  • 6

    1. Heat 2Lane 2
    2. Heat 6Lane 1
    3. Heat 13Lane 4
    4. Heat 21Lane 3

  • 7

    1. Heat 3Lane 2
    2. Heat 7Lane 1
    3. Heat 14Lane 4
    4. Heat 22Lane 3

  • 8

    1. Heat 4Lane 2
    2. Heat 8Lane 1
    3. Heat 15Lane 4
    4. Heat 23Lane 3

  • 9

    1. Heat 5Lane 2
    2. Heat 9Lane 1
    3. Heat 16Lane 4
    4. Heat 24Lane 3

  • 10

    1. Heat 1Lane 3
    2. Heat 6Lane 2
    3. Heat 10Lane 1
    4. Heat 17Lane 4

  • 11

    1. Heat 2Lane 3
    2. Heat 7Lane 2
    3. Heat 11Lane 1
    4. Heat 18Lane 4

  • 12

    1. Heat 3Lane 3
    2. Heat 8Lane 2
    3. Heat 12Lane 1
    4. Heat 19Lane 4

  • 13

    1. Heat 4Lane 3
    2. Heat 9Lane 2
    3. Heat 13Lane 1
    4. Heat 20Lane 4

  • 14

    1. Heat 5Lane 3
    2. Heat 10Lane 2
    3. Heat 14Lane 1
    4. Heat 21Lane 4

  • 15

    1. Heat 6Lane 3
    2. Heat 11Lane 2
    3. Heat 15Lane 1
    4. Heat 22Lane 4

  • 16

    1. Heat 7Lane 3
    2. Heat 12Lane 2
    3. Heat 16Lane 1
    4. Heat 23Lane 4

  • 17

    1. Heat 8Lane 3
    2. Heat 13Lane 2
    3. Heat 17Lane 1
    4. Heat 24Lane 4

  • 18

    1. Heat 1Lane 4
    2. Heat 9Lane 3
    3. Heat 14Lane 2
    4. Heat 18Lane 1

  • 19

    1. Heat 2Lane 4
    2. Heat 10Lane 3
    3. Heat 15Lane 2
    4. Heat 19Lane 1

  • 20

    1. Heat 3Lane 4
    2. Heat 11Lane 3
    3. Heat 16Lane 2
    4. Heat 20Lane 1

  • 21

    1. Heat 4Lane 4
    2. Heat 12Lane 3
    3. Heat 17Lane 2
    4. Heat 21Lane 1

  • 22

    1. Heat 5Lane 4
    2. Heat 13Lane 3
    3. Heat 18Lane 2
    4. Heat 22Lane 1

  • 23

    1. Heat 6Lane 4
    2. Heat 14Lane 3
    3. Heat 19Lane 2
    4. Heat 23Lane 1

  • 24

    1. Heat 7Lane 4
    2. Heat 15Lane 3
    3. Heat 20Lane 2
    4. Heat 24Lane 1

Pinewood Derby is a trademark of Scouting America. This chart generator is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Scouting America.

Judge's tally sheet

Write the place or the time beside the car in each lane
HeatLane 1Lane 2Lane 3Lane 4
1151018
2261119
3371220
4481321
5591422
66101523
77111624
8812171
9913182
101014193
111115204
121216215
131317226
141418237
151519248
16162019
171721210
181822311
191923412
202024513
21211614
22222715
23233816
24244917

Pinewood Derby is a trademark of Scouting America. This chart generator is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Scouting America.

What a 4-lane chart comes out as

24 cars across four lanes is 24 heats and 96 runs in total — four for each car, one in each lane. At about a minute and a half from gate to gate that is roughly 36 minutes of track time, which is the number to plan the morning around rather than the racing itself.

Four lanes is what most packs own: the standard sectional aluminium track, thirty-odd feet of it in a bag, with an electronic finish gate at the bottom.

On four lanes a pack of 13 cars or more can be arranged so that no two cars ever meet twice all day. Below 13 the ring is too short to hold the 12 gaps the rotation needs, so some pair has to be sent down the track together a second time.

Lane bias on four lanes

On four lanes the outside lanes are the suspect ones. They sit at the ends of every joint between sections, so a misalignment anywhere along the track shows up there first and stays there.

Timers for this width are cheap and everywhere, which means results arrive with hundredths of a second attached and the totals can be added up instead of argued over.

Each run is 25% of a car's result at this width, so a single bad lane draw would move a four-lane standing a long way if the lanes were not rotated. Once they are, every car has carried the same handicap exactly once and the totals compare cleanly.

Printing and running four lanes

The schedule prints as 5 columns — the heat number and four lanes — down 24 rows, which fits portrait on both Letter and A4 without shrinking the type to something unreadable across a hall.

Four runs a car is enough to mean something and short enough to fit an evening, which is why this width became the default — it is a property of the schedule, not of the racing.

Call four cars to the top of the track while the current heat is still running. On four lanes that is 4 boys already holding their cars when the gate drops, and it is the single change that turns 36 minutes of track time into 36 minutes of morning.

Common questions

How many heats for a 4 lane pinewood derby?

One per car: 24 cars on four lanes is 24 heats, and 28 cars would be 28. The lane count sets how many times each car races, not how many heats there are.

How many times does each car race on 4 lanes?

Four times — once in every lane. That is the smallest number of runs that cancels the lane advantage completely, which is why the figure is set by the track rather than chosen by the organiser.

Can two cars end up racing each other repeatedly on 4 lanes?

Not on this chart above 13 cars, where the offsets are chosen so every pair meets at most once. Four lanes produces 12 pairings per rotation, and spreading them is the whole reason the offsets are searched rather than counted off.

Every track width

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