"Everybody has secrets about their cars," says Thomas in a conspiratorial whisper.

His father, Bill Hunt, is sure that the secret to a fast car is all in the wheels.

The scene is replayed in several Saratoga neighborhoods in the days before the scouts of Pack 508 meet for the annual Pinewood Derby.

But this is much more than fathers and sons trying to make a block of wood go faster. It's all about bonding, about seeing children grow up and share responsibility.

This is the annual Pinewood Derby.

It's the season when Cub Scouts from around the country will gather with the rest of the members of their pack to race little wooden cars, and shout and holler. Some will be heartbroken by their car's performance. Some will own bragging rights for the rest of the year.

Pack 508 in Saratoga had its derby at the Argonaut Elementary School on Jan. 8. Around 50 eager scouts showed up early on a Saturday morning at the school cafeteria for the race.

But the preparation began in December, when the kits were given out to the scouts.

The kit hasn't changed much since the first derby was held in Manhattan Beach more than 50 years ago. Each scout still gets a block of wood, four plastic wheels and four nails to be used as axles. The scout is then guided by an exhaustive set of rules that dictate the weight and the size of the car.

The presentation of the kit signals the start of hours of sawing and tooling in garages, frantic searches for the perfect design on the Internet and excitable conversations around the dinner table.

The excitement is understandable. For many scouts, the event is the highlight of the year.

As always, there are plenty of ideas to make a car go faster.

"Some people suggest using mercury as a lubricant. There are a lot of theories on the Internet," Bill says.

Thomas claims that the car they made last year was more old-fashioned and had a lot of features. The day before the race, he is still trying to think of a name for his car. "Maybe we can call it a carnivore car," suggests Bill helpfully.

The wheels and axles are still waiting to be attached to Thomas' car the day before the race. Bill has waited until the last day to attach them because the plastic wheels sometimes wear off if a car is test run too may times.

Hopkins Guy, the scoutmaster for Pack 508, has been part of the derby for three years now. His two sons, Will and Sam, also took part in the derby this year.

"The rules haven't changed a whole lot since the early days," says Guy, who participated in a derby when he was younger. "The biggest change this year is that we have a sleek aluminum track instead of an old wooden track."

The cars are released from an incline and both the start and the finish lines are laser-triggered. The list of the winners of a race show up on a computer generated screen in a matter of seconds.

"There are a large number of suppliers who supply parts for the derby. There is a lot to choose from," Guy says. "There is not a whole lot of electronics or high technology when it comes to the cars. But you can see that the kids are really engaged."

Engaged they certainly are. The first hour of the race is when the kids are the loudest. But as scouts from each den race their cars, and most are eliminated, there is a decline in the noise level.

This is the fifth and last year that Alex Amato can take part in the derby. And he has given it his best.

Alex has designed a basic lightweight car for this year, a no-frills car that he hopes will be faster than the cars he has built in other years. "I call it the Hershey's car because it looks like a bar of Hershey's," Alex says.

He is confident that using the weights at the back of the car would make a difference. "If the weight is at the back, the weight will be on the downhill longer," Alex says.

In previous years, his cars have resembled an arrow, a pencil and a surfboard.

Kevin, his father, thinks that the derby is a wonderful opportunity for families to work on something together. "Each year, I have worked progressively less and less as Alex has taken on more responsibilities," he says.

According to Kevin, there have been instances, especially with the younger scouts, where the fathers do not even let their kids touch their cars. "But there is a spirit of community and togetherness during the race," he says.

Kevin says that a few years ago, a scout's car failed to cross the finish line twice. "The third time it crossed the finish line and everybody cheered," he says.

There are stories of heartbreak every time.

Kanaai Shah's red fire truck failed to finish the race this year because the wheels fell off. Long after that happened, he could be seen sitting on his mother's lap whimpering and crying. "What can I say? I told him that we will come back with a better car next year. A car that will be good enough to do better," says Sunita, his mother.

Some disappointed boys could be seen being consoled in the school parking lot by their parents. Davis Robertson, whose car started well but then lost eventually, could be seen alternately cheering and crying as his car raced the other winners in the final round.

The event is a day out for parents as well, a social occasion to meet and swap stories about how their car was made this year. Some den leaders of Pack 508 had thrown their garages open so that scouts could use precision tools to fine tune their cars.

"There is quite a bit of precision involved. The cutting, sanding and the polishing of the axles call for a fair amount of time," says Mahesh Jethanandani, who had helped his son, Mahir, with the building of the car. "Everything relies on the reduction of friction. I think most of the assembling of the cars for the younger kids is done by the adults."

Derek Sun, who was taking part in the race for the second year, has a simple rule. "Put the axle in and spin the wheel with your fingers. If the wheel is still spinning by the time you have counted to 10, it is a good axle," he says.

Sun claimed that he had a secret way of sharing luck with his friends. "We give each other luck," he says.

Luck surely plays an important part in the race.

"Some years ago a car that was essentially only a block of wood on wheels and had been hurriedly put together just before the race ended up winning," Hunt recalls.

Guy agreed. "I really do not know what makes a winning car," he says.

This being the Bay Area, many children taking part in the derby have fathers who are engineers. This gives an added edge to the competition as the father sometimes invests his professional skills in the wooden car.

But in the end, it might not matter at all.

Ryan Mabanta won the race this year and celebrated with a Tom Cruise-like cry in The Last Samurai. His father works in the insurance industry.