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Every year, Fort Meade Cub Scouts spend weeks planning and designing what they hope will be the fastest wooden car on the installation.

And in a flash, all those hours come down to just a few exhilarating seconds as the cars speed down a track at the Pinewood Derby and winners emerge.

Fort Meade Cub Scout Pack 377 held its annual event Saturday morning at Pershing Hill Elementary School, where nearly 80 young pit-crew chiefs were challenged to determine the fastest car in each den.

The event aims to teach the Cub Scouts to "strengthen bonds, share responsibility, develop teamwork, learn new skills, exercise creativity and build sportsmanship," according to the Boy Scouts of America website.

Cars started out as a block of wood before being cut, whittled and shaped into unique designs such as a wedge of cheese or police car with a maximum length of 7 inches and weight of 5 ounces.

The creative process didn't end with just the cutting. Cars were given flamboyant paint jobs including racing stripes, camouflage and flames.

Each Scout raced against boys from their den, placing their speed machines four at a time at the top of a steep, metal track purchased from proceeds from popcorn sales last fall.

Racing down the track, the light-weight wooden cars hit high speeds, which scaled to a full-sized vehicle, reached as fast as 156 mph.

Top finishers

* Tigers: Cardon Hammerstrom

* Wolves: Jeffery Moody

* Bears: Jacob Wendt

* Webelos: Zachary Meggett

* Outlaws (parents and siblings): Michael Mahoney