Once thing I've not seen mentioned anywhere, is "what happened at the post-lunch ITA grid"?

For those that don't know, the schedule showed a 1:00 race for ITA on Saturday, the first race after lunch. Traditionally, in SCCA racing that means we are to be in our vehicles, ready to roll off the grid at the listed time. As a result, we were watching the clocks closely, and at 12:50 I bolted myself into the car and slowly cruised to the grid.

When I got to the grid, well under the appointed time, it seemed EVERYONE was scrambling, with drivers quickly trying to get their helmets on and belted into the cars. As I was backed into my spot I asked the grid worker "what's going on, are we under the Five or something?" and he replied, "we are WELL into the five, very nearly at the One".

Since I was already belted into the car all I had to do was get my helmet and gloves on, and I did so just in time for the One. Several other drivers weren't so lucky; in fact Kevin Fandozzi in the Neon, gridded in eighth right next to me, didn't get to the grid until we were just starting to roll off, and he was placed at the back of the pack.

Frankly, though I got over it by the green, I was pretty pissed-off at that situation. There's NO WAY that we were given the One at 12:59, unless someone had set their clock forward by at least five minutes (and our trailer clocks gets their time from satellite-based atomic clocks, so they're DAMNED accurate). Even so, with virtually EVERY driver on the grid scrambling in some form or fashion, and several competitors missing, why didn't we go ahead and show a little consideration and give folks a few more minutes so we could all compete as we had qualified?

I'd completely understand if we were subject to a live TV broadcast, or if the supps had said something like "time indicated is 'green flag' time", but unless I miss my mark neither was the case. This is Club Racing, and we all want to enjoy this.

So, what happened? Why was virtually the entire ITA field caught off-guard in terms of roll-off time, and, given this, why wasn't there consideration to let everybody get their ducks in a row?

Curious in Connecticut...