Zachary Tinkle
(Photo: Jon Rose/ARCA Racing)

Cub Scout Pinewood Derby design selected for Zachary Tinkle’s Scouting America car at Rockingham

Zachary Tinkle Racing April 14, 2025

As previously announced, a Cub Scout Pinewood Derby design will be wrapped on Zachary Tinkle’s race car at the ARCA Menards East Series race at Rockingham Speedway as part of a partnership between Scouting America and the Zachary Tinkle Foundation.

The contest lasted the past couple months with entrants having a deadline of mid-March to submit their designs.

Entries were narrowed down to the last finalists by the marketing teams with Zachary Tinkle making the final selection. The winner is a Cub Scout from Oklahoma named James Bryan.

Zachary Tinkle
Zachary Tinkle’s scheme for Saturday’s event at Rockingham Speedway.

In talking about the process, Tinkle said, “This was a tough decision. All of the designs were creative and it took several rounds to narrow it down to one paint scheme. This design stood out and was unique because it used Tiger colors in a simple, but elegant way. It also reminded me of my early Scouting days where I even made a friendship with a fellow Scout that I’m still friends with to this day.”

Last week, Tinkle and the Scouting America marketing team met James and his parents via video call. James was very excited and could hardly speak at first. But, was able to share that he worked on the car as a project with his dad and named the car Cletus. He and his parents will be attending the April 19, 2025 race at Rockingham Speedway as part of an experience package for the winner. James said that he can’t wait to go to the race track to meet Zachary and the team. He will also be bringing his winning Pinewood Derby car with him for Zachary to autograph.

When reflecting on this promotion, Zachary said that this has been a fulfilling partnership given his background as a Scout and the experiences during this contest. Those experiences included being invited to attend a local Scout meeting in Speedway, Ind. He also noted that it was fun to have Scouts bring their Pinewood Derby cars to Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola for him and Fast Track team owner Andy Hillenburg to sign. Tinkle was a Webelos Super Achiever in Scouts while Hillenburg won two Pinewood Derby races himself.