What to do when it goes wrong....

[RSTPerformance]

Does everyone know that we have "Driver Advisors?" They are stewards that are assigned to helping you resolve your problems and help if needed when deciding and/or when going through the protest process.

If you have ANY issue at all and want to talk to a driver, I suggest getting the driver advisor first and using them to help you. If you prefer go visit the driver with the steward (you then have an official witness should an altercation occur) or ask them to page the driver to the tower and talk about the incident that happened. Let them be the "middleman" if needed to get your point across. At that point you can decide if you want to protest or not. If the person made a mistake it may also make them realize that the issue has been brought to the attention of others and that maybe they need to really think about their actions/driving habits.

Raymond "It’s an interesting topic having been on all the sides... the victim, the aggressor, the advisor, and the steward" Blethen

[planet6racing]

Does everyone know that we have "Driver Advisors?" They are stewards that are assigned to helping you resolve your problems and help if needed when deciding and/or when going through the protest process.

Not all regions/divisions have driver advisors.

In (5) years of racing, I have yet to make contact with another car on course. Of course, now that I said that...

[gsbaker]

Not all regions/divisions have driver advisors.

In (5) years of racing, I have yet to make contact with another car on course. Of course, now that I said that...

And that includes racing without a steering wheel.

[gran racing]

Anytime I hear that Glen story, I shake my head in disbelief. During qualifying??? That sucks big time.

It needs to be done immediately.

While I agree it should be done soon, immediately will often cause more issues than good. Like Matt, I believe it’s better to have a few minutes for both parties to cool off, absorb what happened, and collect their thoughts.

The first thing I want to do is review the video if one exists. This information can be so valuable! I think back to the ’05 ARRC and my incident with an ITC car and another ITB car. Taking the minute or two to review the video first made quite a difference on the overall outcome of my discussion with the ITC driver. Initially he was extremely upset with me. I showed him the video which totally changed the conversation. I know that if I had just gone over there immediately the conversation would have gone differently.

or ask them to page the driver to the tower and talk about the incident that happened.

As soon as a person hears their name being called to the tower, they will immediately go on the defense. In most situations I’d rather have an initial discussion with the person unless I’m just too pissed.

While I agree it’s a good idea to bring a crew member to the conversation you have with another driver, if I were approached by the “liason driver” I’d wonder what’s going on.

The way I handle the situation will also vary dependant upon if I’ve been racing with the driver for while and we’ve respected each out on the track, if I don’t know him at all, and if I think the incident was done intentionally (if I beleive it’s his fault). The later of these situations is the one situation I'll head to the tower instead of seeking out the driver.

[joeg]

All our races have Stewards...though.

Face it, you are on your own out there. The best rule is to avoid contact and avoid situations where contact is likely.

Go beat on a panel before making or inviting apology visits.

[spnkzss]

This has always been an interesting thing to me. In a perfect world, 1.) If I feel it's my fault (read, I'm not pissed) I go over immediately. I'll take the beating and apologize/try to make it right. 2.) if I feel it's their fault (read, I'M PISSED) then I want to wait and calm down before I go find them. I also hope that time they will allow them to come find me. Most of the time, I just want an apology. I haven't had someone else's actions total my car so I don't have an opinion on what else I would want from them.

The problem with this logic is, you only have 30 minutes post race to protest. I can take more than 15 minutes too cool down. Then I have to find my rep. Then I have to make my way to the tower, blah blah blah. If I wait too long and feel I need to act, I normally don't have enough time.

The adrenaline rush is rough. I ALWAYS take someone else with me to get in between if I have to. Not to keep them from getting to me, but to prevent me from getting to them. The worst time I had the driver pushed me off in 4 different corners. The last one was at T3 at Summit. Literally pushed me into the gravel. The argument got no where. He didn't get it. His kids were there, his wife was there, my brother grabbed me and said it's not worth it and pulled me away.

What can you do? Type A personalities + adrenaline + feeling of being wronged = bad situation at times.

I personally would like to see the protest window be opened from 30 min to 60 min for non mechanical protests. You might get more protests, you might get less, but at least most would be done with a little cooler head.

[gran racing]

The problem with this logic is, you only have 30 minutes post race to protest.

I agree with the notion of extending the published time limit. If a person doesn't feel like they can come to a resolution within 30 minutes, vist the steward and let them know you'd like to speak with the driver and others before filing a protest, and ask if they'd extend the time limitation. I believe in most situations they will allow this - I've only tested this out once and they did.

[tnord]

actually, the one time i filed a protest, i was told i had 30min to notify the stewards of my intention of filing a protest, not 30 min to actually complete everything.

[benspeed]

I will come to your paddock and pummel you so don't hit my car. Wait, is that politically correct?

Maybe I'll just leave a giant dog poo in the driver seat of your car if you hit my car. That's more correct, right?

[Tristan Smith]

Last July I was t-boned in turn 7 at Road Atlanta by a ITS Porsche 944. My car was torn up. I think he totally screwed the pooch, and having watched his in car video as he showed it to the stewards during my protest......I was further convinced. My car was tagged and forced into a innocent bystander, a Fiero going around the outside of the corner. He and I spoke at the protest and I apologized for the damage caused to his car even though I don't feel it was my fault. I never once had the opportunity to speak with the 944 driver since he never felt it appropriate to seek me out and speak to me about it, after the incident or at the protest. It was difficult for me seek him out as I sat on the wall for the rest of the race waiting for a flatbed (the motor blew up on the next lap). I thought is was totally classless. So now I have a new approach. You hit me like that, and don't come over and argue it out with me, and I make it my life ambition to punt you off the track at every chance I get. A bit harsh maybe, but I am sick of having my car torn without as much as a "screw you".

[JeffYoung]

What was the outcome of the protest?

The only significant on track contact I've had in 4 years of this (fingers crossed) was at Charlotte in 04. I had to lock up to miss a guy first lap who I feel cut me off in turn 3, ran out of talent and slid up and into an innocent ITS RX7 (Russ Boatwright).

I knocked the bumper off my car and tore up a quarter panel and the door. Russ had door damage. The guy I locked them down to miss got away clean.

I went and apologized to Russ afterwards and explained what happened from my perspective. He was very gracious, much appreciated.

The guy who caused the mess (and knew it) never said a word. Makes you want to Tristan the guy! Seriously, I am a truly believer in taking a few to calm down and then and going and talking about it (whether I'm at fault or not).

Tristan is the car fixed?

Last July I was t-boned in turn 7 at Road Atlanta by a ITS Porsche 944. My car was torn up. I think he totally screwed the pooch, and having watched his in car video as he showed it to the stewards during my protest......I was further convinced. My car was tagged and forced into a innocent bystander, a Fiero going around the outside of the corner. He and I spoke at the protest and I apologized for the damage caused to his car even though I don't feel it was my fault. I never once had the opportunity to speak with the 944 driver since he never felt it appropriate to seek me out and speak to me about it, after the incident or at the protest. It was difficult for me seek him out as I sat on the wall for the rest of the race waiting for a flatbed (the motor blew up on the next lap). I thought is was totally classless. So now I have a new approach. You hit me like that, and don't come over and argue it out with me, and I make it my life ambition to punt you off the track at every chance I get. A bit harsh maybe, but I am sick of having my car torn without as much as a "screw you".

[Tristan Smith]

Hi Jeff,
yep, will be breaking in the motor tomorrow during the Rd Atl. test day, and all the body work has been done. So, it looks pretty back to normal. I have gone over the whole car, and I think everything is ok on it, but I won't know till I get it out for a few laps. But even if the car is fine, the driver is rusty, rusty, rusty! So I don't plan on making any "hard charges" to the front of the pack this weekend.

Here's an interesting tidbit. While I had the radiator ought, I gently tapped and blew out the junk in the radiator. I got a full CUP of sand and debris out of it. Man, that may explain why it running hot last year! Hey 240sx guys, CLEAN out your radiator! It may cool that dam thing done a bit. It'll be part of the pre race weekend routine for now on.

[mustanghammer]

Not all regions/divisions have driver advisors.

In (5) years of racing, I have yet to make contact with another car on course. Of course, now that I said that...

Oh no - never say that! I did and got clobbered in my 6th year!

The key is to communicate. The only inccident of note that I have been in occurred last year. I think both of us felt that the other driver was at fault and so we were both waiting on the other party to start the communication/explanation process. As a result nothing was said until the next race. This created an unresolved issue that festered in the back of my mind as I beat and welded my car back into racing condition. It also created an uneasy situation on the track and it put a damper on things for me.

As far as the incident was concerned I don't feel it was my fault however I am to blame for not speaking with the other driver the day it happened.

[Catch22]

Video always helps.

Immediately after Ed Ho put Renee in the turn 12 wall at the '05 ARRC enduro I was ready to have his ass hanged. I talked to the stewards, got some advice, the whole thing (after Renee was released from medical of course). After a couple of minutes of conversation (the race was still going on) Renee says something to the effect of "I'm not sure it was really Ed's fault."

Huh?
He punted you in the middle of the turn. OBVIOUSLY he's an asshat!
Right?

Well... Not so fast.
Renee's memory was fuzzy because it happened so fast and she'd just smacked a concrete wall, but she kept thinking the Miata in front of her was the issue.
Well, sure enough, when we retrieved the camera it clearly showed the Miata had checked up on turn-in, Renee had lifted and pulled right to avoid the Miata, sideswiped it just before the apex, and Ed very likely was left with nowhere to go. That ended up being the case after we all got together and talked after the race (which Ed ended up winning BTW).

Importantly, even though he had just won the ARRC enduro the first thing Ed did after rolling across the scales was find Renee and make sure she was OK. They talked, looked at video, and agreed on what happened. No hard feelings a all. Actually Renee hugged him and congratulated him on his win.

The Miata guy... Never came by. Never did nothing.
Renee finally (when I was busy trying to get a bent car on the trailer. A 6 person job with a come-along) went over to "thank" him for lifiting in turn 12 and ask what was up with that. He brushed her off mumbling about how his car was handling badly. She made sure he understood his poorly handling car took out the class leader in another class, and thanked him for his situational awareness.
She didn't tell me about this until we were home, which is why that guy still has all of his teeth. The video showed that both Ed and Renee (fighting for p1 in ITC) had attempted passes on this guy multiple times before the incident. He either outran them down the next straight or just plain blocked them. Remember, this is the p20 Miata, which the driver later said was ill handling, BLOCKING the ITC leaders. Now thats some situational awareness right there.

If you are in a SM, and you have to resort to blocking to keep ITC cars behind you, you just need to get the hell out of the way. Seriously.

A prime example of how NOT to do it and how to do it all in one incident.

Then there is also the "Thats Just Racing" stuff. I'm sure the guy I had contact with in Madness last month thinks it was my fault. I think it was his fault.
I tried to find him after the race but never did. I have no idea if he tried to find me.
<shrug>

[Ed Funk]

[quote=Catch22;270096]Video always helps.






If you are in a SM, and you have to resort to blocking to keep ITC cars behind you, you just need to get the hell out of the way. Seriously.

My answer, is these "people" need to find another sport!