May 14 at SPC

[Jamie]

I missed any close calls, when was this?

Two not terribly close. One in the first heat -- I don't remember whose cars were involved, but it was a combination of not getting the red flag really waving and the driver missing it. Staition 5 got it out there, but not waving "like a monkey on crack" , and were positioned right where the kink pulled the car away from the concrete pad, so the driver wasn't looking at the flag -- but did see the other car going through the finish and stopped. The other was in the second heat -- Jesse lost it through the same kink and slid to the outside. Neither closed inside of 50 ft.

It's difficult to do a course at SPC without a crossover -- that's why we need workers and drivers on their toes.

[Rawkkrawler]

I missed any close calls, when was this?

This may have been what the earlier post was referring to, other than me in the corner, everyone responded pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLe6Emcfq9I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great day overall!

[rojna]

Neither closed inside of 50 ft.

and one in the rain ...

[Tim_M]

Another bravo event.

Unfortunate the rain did come, but hey, as I mentioned...I've only seen the rain once in the 3 years I've run with FAST...pretty darn good stats.

I enjoyed the course especially when someone taught me the fast way around the turn around...I must have missed Loren saying that was optional...yea right.

The FROC was great. Thanks for supplying the miata pumpkin-I can see why the attraction-those foreign cars are a hoot!

One comment on the coolers and ice...we need to be wary of storing the sodas in the coolers in between events...when opened there was fungus growing withing along with several popped pops from the heat. Ice was in short supply...most got warm sodas for lunch.

Only car event I participate/enjoy anymore...FAST-the people are great.

[snookwheel]

That situation you describe re the first heat is exactly what I had happen on the second heat. A driver in front of me almost hit a cone, stopped and backed up to get around it , causing just enough delay to create a situation. As I passed the mentioned 'kink, I saw the other driver heading towards the finish...... slowly. It was just in the wrong spot to see anyone waiving red flags, but fortunately the car was in my line of sight at a point that it was easy to react and not turn into anything serious. I do love re-runs!

[Jamie]

Since I really don't generally jump in on the smack-talking...... I won't even mention that I beat Jamie driving a Miata!

Oddly enough, except for Bill Beers, no one driving the first FROC heat did well. Part of that was those of us who "knew" better took the slow way around the pin turn, but part was something else. Jeff, who drove his regular runs in the same car in the first heat, cut off even more time in the rain...leads me to believe the extra seat time was worth something.

Just to be sure, though, you and I can re-match in July in my car...loser buys dinner.

[snookwheel]

[. Jeff, who drove his regular runs in the same car in the first heat, cut off even more time in the rain...leads me to believe the extra seat time was worth something.

It was a blast runing a Miata for time! I haven't done that before. I can't remember,...... I had two runs in the Froc car (both in the rain), what did you have? Anyway, I am sure it was fun for you too.... what kind of car do you usually drive at autocross? (just an old guy with a fading memory;-)). I am a cheap date...... Arby's is delicious!

Scott

[Native]

Hmmm. So Steve took first in class and 11th overall driving our car. Last time we let someone else drive our car, it was Eric G, driving our 350Z, who came in 7th overall and would have taken first in class as well.

How come everyone else can drive our cars better than we can?

If you ask around, you'll find that quite often when someone shares their car, they get beat. Happens to me more often than not. The Great Irony of co-driving.

[Rosko]

I believe I've seen three posts in which somebody said they left after they ran without taking a work assignment (or maybe I misunderstood?). This is one of the only unforgivable sins in autocross, isn't it?

[nc4me]

Safety at SPC the last two events have been iffy. Last time there we had a finish timer hit. It was simply to close to the slalom and I had a feeling someone was going to hit it either in the slalom or losing it through the finish. This time was way worse. I understand where you're coming from Loren when you said if there was a close call it was due to course working errors. However, I have to also say the course had a design flaw. The fact that the finish where people are supposed to slow down before heading to grid crossed the path of the course on a section where you could accelerate and gain speed and possibly miss a car going through the finish was a mistake. If you look at the video posted by the cobra that spun, you can see that when the miata stopped he was at the apex cone for the right turn next to the crossover and the cobra at the last cone at the crossover. That is less than 50 feet. Had the miata not seen the cobra when he did, there could have easily been a crash. I'm not solely blaming the course design. The starter was releasing cars earlier in the second group than the first and station 5 was watching the cobra spin and had no clue the miata was coming. By the time someone from the picnic tables yelled "RED FLAG THE CAR" and the course worker turned to the right to see the car. It was to late. Thank goodness the miata driver and passenger saw the cobra and stopped. All I'm saying is we really need to either design things slightly differently and/or make sure that if there is a crucial station (the last station before a crossover) that they know that if someone losses it like that, then they need to be aware of the next car and need to be ready to wave the flag. Long story that could have been written most likely with fewer words over. Now for the fun stuff.

I did like driving the course and the day went as smoothly as possible considering the rain and the mix in of froc runs. I look forward to seeing everyone in June.

[Loren]

Jeff, who drove his regular runs in the same car in the first heat, cut off even more time in the rain...leads me to believe the extra seat time was worth something.

Jeff didn't run in the rain. He took his FROC runs at the end of the second group. Even if we'd given the wet FROC drivers 3 seconds, they still wouldn't have been within a second of Jeff's best time.

[Loren]

I believe I've seen three posts in which somebody said they left after they ran without taking a work assignment (or maybe I misunderstood?). This is one of the only unforgivable sins in autocross, isn't it?

Just walking off without working your scheduled assignment is highly frowned upon. I know the first one mentioned here had a special circumstance (sick girlfriend) and said he needed to leave. He even offered to come back and help with teardown.

On rare occasions, we get people who show up and just disappear before their work assignment for no apparent reason... we watch for that.

[Loren]

Safety at SPC the last two events have ben iffy.

I think that's a little extreme, but you're entitled to your opinion.

The timer issue at the last SPC event was not a safety problem in any way. If the timer gets hit, it costs the club money. We don't like it, we try to avoid it, but it's not a safety issue. When I designed and set up that course, I thought that the finish timer was far enough away from the slalom to not get hit. (I thought it was more likely to get hit by someone spinning through the finish, which almost happened) And I think only one car spun over that way and that far from the slalom... it was sort of a fluke. But, either way, yes, we/I learned from it, and NO, it was absolutely not a safety problem.

The finish of this course we could argue about all day. The simple fact is that we knew about the potential issues of doing it that way, and we did everything we could to control them. We discussed it at the driver's meeting so that everyone knew about it (from both a driver and worker perspective), and I personally spoke with the workers on station 5 (which is the station that should have stopped a car coming toward the crossover) at the beginning of both the first and second groups to remind them of their extra importance. I was driving the third group, and didn't do so then. But, I'm pretty sure that Ed was also starting cars much more conservatively in the rain.

There is only one way to 100% idiot-proof (potential idiots being either course-designers, starters, drivers or course workers) a cross-over on an autocross course: Don't have one.

Every crossover always carries with it some risk. Start timing has to be in synch with the requirements of the course, conditions, and the speed of the cars on course at any given time. If a car spins or otherwise makes an error that slows them down more than expected, things get out of synch... at that point, it's up to the course workers and the drivers.

[jreid1000]

I believe I've seen three posts in which somebody said they left after they ran without taking a work assignment (or maybe I misunderstood?). This is one of the only unforgivable sins in autocross, isn't it?

It is generally a deadly sin, but in one of the cases, the driver's guest was quite ill and he asked if he could take them home and then come back and do tear down. Jamie and I agreed it was best if he left early and stayed home with the sick friend.

[Loren]

I missed any close calls, when was this?

This may have been what the earlier post was referring to, other than me in the corner, everyone responded pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLe6Emcfq9I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great day overall!

Thanks for posting that. I think that was one that I saw happen. I remember seeing your car sideways right at the finish line and thinking "why aren't they waving the flags yet???" And then the Miata came up much quicker than expected. I was wondering if maybe you'd had another bauble earlier in that run that caused him to gain on you a little more.

Anyway, yeah, that shouldn't have happened... but I'm going to side with Jamie, it wasn't exactly a "near miss". Not nearly as dramatic as it looks in the angle shown in the video.

But, damn, people... when you're working the course and you've been specifically told "your position is extremely important and this is what you need to watch for", you need to do it!

[puncturina]

Just for clarification--the second run group was scheduled to work during the first run group, and were off for the third group unless they were running FROC runs. We were the lucky ones in the day's schedule. We were not scheduled to run or work the last group, so leaving was an option.

BTW, the last time we ran in the rain at SPC, we got in a fender bender on 275 on the way home and had $6000 of damage to the car (which was mostly covered by insurance), so now I absolutely hate the mix of rain/SPC/autocross. Bad associations!

[mltavana]

I believe I've seen three posts in which somebody said they left after they ran without taking a work assignment (or maybe I misunderstood?). This is one of the only unforgivable sins in autocross, isn't it?

Mike worked setup and I worked the first run group. We ran in the second group and left at the end of it to beat the rain, so we don't have to go to confession this week.

[warneej]

Had a great time guys, not sure how I did so well but I'll take it! First in E3 by over a second and 14th overall!

When walking the course I thought I was going to hate it. Driving it, I absolutely LOVED it. Thanks to all who set up!

I too had the luxury of leaving early since I worked first/ran second. Wish I could've stayed but I had to take the Skyway home and that's where ALL the weather was. Add in 1/4 tread StarSpecs and that equals a not fun drive home. Sorry I didn't get to say goodbye or lend a hand, but look for me in Brooksville if you have any "special" assignments

[wbeers690]

if jeff didnt run in his assigned group does that mean i truely win cause he went out of order also i say we rent a ford taurus for the next iroc

[Loren]

if jeff didnt run in his assigned group does that mean i truely win cause he went out of order also i say we rent a ford taurus for the next iroc

You are in violation of rule #1. I'll be there to collect your forfeited winnings this evening.