Cub Scout Pack 293 leader Daryl Muzy admits technology has improved significantly in the 50-year history of the North Huntingdon-area Cub Scout pack’s annual pinewood derby race.

Instead of eyeballing the finish line, as was once done by the scoutmasters, the speedy wooden cars now cross a laser beam that sends a precise measurement to a computer screen.

One pair of competitors were as close as one ten-thousandth of a second to determine who finished third and fourth on Saturday at JB’s Bright Beginnings in Irwin.

And the laser technology helped prove it’s not always boys crossing the finish line first.

The first girls to ever win first-place prizes in the history of Cub Scout Pack 293’s pinewood derby are Aubrey Chamberlain, 10, and, in the younger Cub Scout category, Paula Froetschel, 6. Both built their own cars.

“She loves all this stuff and got really into it,” said John Froetschel of Irwin, father of winner Paula Froetschel. “Painting it and all. She really wanted to win. So I am glad she did.”

Froetschel even painted the bottom of her car, pink, and topped it off with a unicorn design.

In total, 136 cars were created at home, or at a “build day” hosted by the pack last week, and competed in races and for best in show.

The North Huntingdon Girl Scout troop later arrived with 109 members ready to race.

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