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5 lane pinewood derby chart

Five lanes means five runs for every car and 30 heats for a pack of 30. Set your own numbers below and print the schedule, the cards and the tally sheet.

30 cars on 5 lanes: 30 heats, every car once in every lane, and no two cars meet more than once. About 45 minutes of track time.

Every car runs each of the 5 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

30 cars, 5 lanes, 30 heats — every car once in every lane
HeatLane 1Lane 2Lane 3Lane 4Lane 5
115111924
226122025
337132126
448142227
559152328
6610162429
7711172530
881218261
991319272
10101420283
11111521294
12121622305
1313172316
1414182427
1515192538
1616202649
17172127510
18182228611
19192329712
20202430813
2121251914
22222621015
23232731116
24242841217
25252951318
26263061419
2727171520
2828281621
2929391722
30304101823

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 5
    3. Heat 13Lane 4
    4. Heat 21Lane 3
    5. Heat 27Lane 2

  • 2

    1. Heat 2Lane 1
    2. Heat 9Lane 5
    3. Heat 14Lane 4
    4. Heat 22Lane 3
    5. Heat 28Lane 2

  • 3

    1. Heat 3Lane 1
    2. Heat 10Lane 5
    3. Heat 15Lane 4
    4. Heat 23Lane 3
    5. Heat 29Lane 2

  • 4

    1. Heat 4Lane 1
    2. Heat 11Lane 5
    3. Heat 16Lane 4
    4. Heat 24Lane 3
    5. Heat 30Lane 2

  • 5

    1. Heat 1Lane 2
    2. Heat 5Lane 1
    3. Heat 12Lane 5
    4. Heat 17Lane 4
    5. Heat 25Lane 3

  • 6

    1. Heat 2Lane 2
    2. Heat 6Lane 1
    3. Heat 13Lane 5
    4. Heat 18Lane 4
    5. Heat 26Lane 3

  • 7

    1. Heat 3Lane 2
    2. Heat 7Lane 1
    3. Heat 14Lane 5
    4. Heat 19Lane 4
    5. Heat 27Lane 3

  • 8

    1. Heat 4Lane 2
    2. Heat 8Lane 1
    3. Heat 15Lane 5
    4. Heat 20Lane 4
    5. Heat 28Lane 3

  • 9

    1. Heat 5Lane 2
    2. Heat 9Lane 1
    3. Heat 16Lane 5
    4. Heat 21Lane 4
    5. Heat 29Lane 3

  • 10

    1. Heat 6Lane 2
    2. Heat 10Lane 1
    3. Heat 17Lane 5
    4. Heat 22Lane 4
    5. Heat 30Lane 3

  • 11

    1. Heat 1Lane 3
    2. Heat 7Lane 2
    3. Heat 11Lane 1
    4. Heat 18Lane 5
    5. Heat 23Lane 4

  • 12

    1. Heat 2Lane 3
    2. Heat 8Lane 2
    3. Heat 12Lane 1
    4. Heat 19Lane 5
    5. Heat 24Lane 4

  • 13

    1. Heat 3Lane 3
    2. Heat 9Lane 2
    3. Heat 13Lane 1
    4. Heat 20Lane 5
    5. Heat 25Lane 4

  • 14

    1. Heat 4Lane 3
    2. Heat 10Lane 2
    3. Heat 14Lane 1
    4. Heat 21Lane 5
    5. Heat 26Lane 4

  • 15

    1. Heat 5Lane 3
    2. Heat 11Lane 2
    3. Heat 15Lane 1
    4. Heat 22Lane 5
    5. Heat 27Lane 4

  • 16

    1. Heat 6Lane 3
    2. Heat 12Lane 2
    3. Heat 16Lane 1
    4. Heat 23Lane 5
    5. Heat 28Lane 4

  • 17

    1. Heat 7Lane 3
    2. Heat 13Lane 2
    3. Heat 17Lane 1
    4. Heat 24Lane 5
    5. Heat 29Lane 4

  • 18

    1. Heat 8Lane 3
    2. Heat 14Lane 2
    3. Heat 18Lane 1
    4. Heat 25Lane 5
    5. Heat 30Lane 4

  • 19

    1. Heat 1Lane 4
    2. Heat 9Lane 3
    3. Heat 15Lane 2
    4. Heat 19Lane 1
    5. Heat 26Lane 5

  • 20

    1. Heat 2Lane 4
    2. Heat 10Lane 3
    3. Heat 16Lane 2
    4. Heat 20Lane 1
    5. Heat 27Lane 5

  • 21

    1. Heat 3Lane 4
    2. Heat 11Lane 3
    3. Heat 17Lane 2
    4. Heat 21Lane 1
    5. Heat 28Lane 5

  • 22

    1. Heat 4Lane 4
    2. Heat 12Lane 3
    3. Heat 18Lane 2
    4. Heat 22Lane 1
    5. Heat 29Lane 5

  • 23

    1. Heat 5Lane 4
    2. Heat 13Lane 3
    3. Heat 19Lane 2
    4. Heat 23Lane 1
    5. Heat 30Lane 5

  • 24

    1. Heat 1Lane 5
    2. Heat 6Lane 4
    3. Heat 14Lane 3
    4. Heat 20Lane 2
    5. Heat 24Lane 1

  • 25

    1. Heat 2Lane 5
    2. Heat 7Lane 4
    3. Heat 15Lane 3
    4. Heat 21Lane 2
    5. Heat 25Lane 1

  • 26

    1. Heat 3Lane 5
    2. Heat 8Lane 4
    3. Heat 16Lane 3
    4. Heat 22Lane 2
    5. Heat 26Lane 1

  • 27

    1. Heat 4Lane 5
    2. Heat 9Lane 4
    3. Heat 17Lane 3
    4. Heat 23Lane 2
    5. Heat 27Lane 1

  • 28

    1. Heat 5Lane 5
    2. Heat 10Lane 4
    3. Heat 18Lane 3
    4. Heat 24Lane 2
    5. Heat 28Lane 1

  • 29

    1. Heat 6Lane 5
    2. Heat 11Lane 4
    3. Heat 19Lane 3
    4. Heat 25Lane 2
    5. Heat 29Lane 1

  • 30

    1. Heat 7Lane 5
    2. Heat 12Lane 4
    3. Heat 20Lane 3
    4. Heat 26Lane 2
    5. Heat 30Lane 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 4Lane 5
115111924
226122025
337132126
448142227
559152328
6610162429
7711172530
881218261
991319272
10101420283
11111521294
12121622305
1313172316
1414182427
1515192538
1616202649
17172127510
18182228611
19192329712
20202430813
2121251914
22222621015
23232731116
24242841217
25252951318
26263061419
2727171520
2828281621
2929391722
30304101823

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 5-lane chart comes out as

30 cars across five lanes is 30 heats and 150 runs in total — five for each car, one in each lane. At about a minute and a half from gate to gate that is roughly 45 minutes of track time, which is the number to plan the morning around rather than the racing itself.

Five lanes is a district track rather than a pack one, and it is often a six-lane track with a damaged section left out of the middle.

On five lanes a pack of 21 cars or more can be arranged so that no two cars ever meet twice all day. Below 21 the ring is too short to hold the 20 gaps the rotation needs, so some pair has to be sent down the track together a second time.

Lane bias on five lanes

Five lanes has the same centre-versus-edge problem as three, doubled: two outside lanes, two shoulders and a centre, and on a long track the centre is reliably the quickest of the five.

At five lanes an electronic gate stops being optional. Nobody judges five cars across a line by eye, and a photograph of a five-wide finish is a photograph of an argument.

Each run is 20% of a car's result at this width, so a single bad lane draw would move a five-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 five lanes

The schedule prints as 6 columns — the heat number and five lanes — down 30 rows, which fits portrait on both Letter and A4 without shrinking the type to something unreadable across a hall.

Five is the width at which nobody should attempt the chart by hand. Five runs each across an odd number of lanes has no pattern a person can hold in their head while writing it out.

Call five cars to the top of the track while the current heat is still running. On five lanes that is 5 boys already holding their cars when the gate drops, and it is the single change that turns 45 minutes of track time into 45 minutes of morning.

Common questions

How many heats for a 5 lane pinewood derby?

One per car: 30 cars on five lanes is 30 heats, and 34 cars would be 34. The lane count sets how many times each car races, not how many heats there are.

How many times does each car race on 5 lanes?

Five 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 5 lanes?

Not on this chart above 21 cars, where the offsets are chosen so every pair meets at most once. Five lanes produces 20 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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