drivers working races

[dickita15]

Ah the good old days when you knew who wore the pants in the family.
Seriously back when I flagged a lot there were couples, engaged, that came out regularly and yes he was more into it than her. We would never see them again after the wedding.:cool:

[Ed Funk]

You're very lucky in that regard...many balance the expense of racing up against the expense of divorce.

When we got married, my racing was cut in half, 'cause she had her desirable butt in the Kirkey! I'm one of the lucky ones!!

[67ITB]

So how much extra are drivers willing to pay to guarantee an event to drive at? The volunteer situation is getting to be a HUGE problem. Especially now given the economy...

We, as drivers, need to help work on a solution. I can tell you that in the North East the drivers are cheap asses when it comes to contributing to the workers fund.

$25
$50
$75

This surprises me. Call me naive!!!!
Ever since I started Club racing I have made it a point of making a "worker" contribution of 20-25 buck per race. (as many of you know I am NOT finiancally well off, I am a Government employee)
Looking at what we spend on this hobby I always looked at that $$ as well spent so I can play, and not have to worry about working course....... when the car needs to have a tranny swapped out between qualifying and the race....... Or the thermostat craps out....... Or the front wheel bearings crap out.......

I started out autocrossing for years and it was no fun to have to run from the car, to go work (in the rain or heat) for a session, back to work on the car, and then out to race again.....and try to grab a bite to eat or drink....... So that 20-25 bucks if priceless for piece of mind. and helps to make my weekend a little more relaxing.


Matt

[BruceG]

Matt...do you think it's just a question of money or have folks lost interest in Flagging with their busy lives?

Bruce

[67ITB]

Bruce,

Let me start by saying that I don't think I know enough about this situation to speak for anyone else, But I would imagine its both. Life gets busy, and if there is either a lack of money, or a lack of time they will both weigh in on someones decision to come out and play or not.

The more obstacles that someone has to overcome the more opportunities there are for them to decide to stay home.

Matt

[gizmo83]

I have not been involved in this sport for very long so please excuse my ignorance but... I am a driver in training and as I waited for schools last year I got hooked on flagging on my 'off' weekends. I just wanted to give an opinion on something that was brought up earlier; I drove to New Hampshire from New York by myself for a three day weekend last year and slept in my car in order to afford the excursion!! An offer of a floor for my sleeping bag or company for the evening would have been great!! After the workers party on Friday and Saturday I read a book by lantern sitting by my car door! This was my choice and I really had a great weekend but it could have been even more fun! I worked the corners because someone in my first school said it was the best way to learn to drive the corners and I did learn alot, however sitting with a veteran driver and getting advice could have been priceless! This year I hope to be in the car a lot more then on the corners but I do feel my experience was invaluable. When you are in the drivers' schools everyone is so free with stories and tips...that would be a great help to novices after a days race even if it is given while they are working on their cars and getting ready for the next days race!
Denise VanBuren

[Greg Amy]

An offer of a floor for my sleeping bag or company for the evening would have been great!!

All volunteers can consider this an open offer, to ride with Kakashi to any events we attend, and take advantage of any open accomodations we may have. We tow from Middletown, CT.

In '09 we may actually try to save some coin by sleeping in the enclosed trailer a few times. And, in truth, I prefer "camping at the track as long as there's showers: no travel time, beer and company is right there at the track, and occasionally you can get Fred to fall off the back of a golf kart and crack open his skull to add to the excitement!

GA

[BruceG]

I have not been involved in this sport for very long so please excuse my ignorance but... I am a driver in training and as I waited for schools last year I got hooked on flagging on my 'off' weekends. I just wanted to give an opinion on something that was brought up earlier; I drove to New Hampshire from New York by myself for a three day weekend last year and slept in my car in order to afford the excursion!! An offer of a floor for my sleeping bag or company for the evening would have been great!! After the workers party on Friday and Saturday I read a book by lantern sitting by my car door! This was my choice and I really had a great weekend but it could have been even more fun! I worked the corners because someone in my first school said it was the best way to learn to drive the corners and I did learn alot, however sitting with a veteran driver and getting advice could have been priceless! This year I hope to be in the car a lot more then on the corners but I do feel my experience was invaluable. When you are in the drivers' schools everyone is so free with stories and tips...that would be a great help to novices after a days race even if it is given while they are working on their cars and getting ready for the next days race!
Denise VanBuren

This is a sad(and admirable) story. No wonder we are having problems retaining corner workers. At LRP, there is a beautiful building in the upper lot that Skippy sometimes uses for training that has restrooms(no showers) but is really clean and even has a microwave, I think. Too bad SCCA and LRP can't come to some arrangement so that corner workers don't have to sleep in their cars!

[NutDriverRighty]

Denise,
Thank you for a great example of some of the sacrifices that volunteers of ALL specialties make to be at the track. Greg, thanks for the offer of a ride and/or a floor to sleep on.
I've been working corners for 6 years now. The #1 thing that keeps me coming back is a feeling of appreciation. For someone, whether they be crew, driver, official, or whatever, to come and say something means the world to me. On the flip-side of the same coin is NOT feeling appreciated. Having water brought to the corners by the region on a 100* day, only to find mud in the bottom of the cooler that we were drinking from (and we were drinking the water IN the cooler, NOT from water bottles in the cooler) was pretty upsetting. Running us into the ground with no breaks, cuttting lunch breaks short, etc. are things that make me question why I'm there. Don't forget, if there are cars that need to be picked-up at the end of the last session before lunch or the last session of the day, we stay and help clean it up. This may mean our NOT getting a break or NOT getting a meal. (There have been times that the meals were so bad at one particular track that the volunteers walked-out)
I take a week of vacation every year to work at the Petit LeMans. It's very hard to staff the events Tuesday and Wednesday, so I'm there. I usually try to get a break and just spectate for the rest of the week, but that isn't always possible.
IMHO, word-of-mouth of having a good time is where we get and maintain our volunteers. I've actually heard a local car owner say, "you'll never see 'Thanks Workers' on MY car! Those people suck!". Grab a volunteer and give them a bottle of water, a soda (a beer after hours) and tell them that you appreciate them. Tell them about your car. Share stories with them. Ask them where they worked today and how your car looked. Tell them where you're having problems and they'll sometimes find out who worked there so they can tell you what they saw. I helped a guy in an F500 car knock a second off of his lap times because he was locking his LF into T7 and couldn't see it/didn't know it. Move the braking point back a few feet and his entrance, apex, and acceleration point all improved. Just an example of how sharing with us might be beneficial to you as well.
For me, a simple acknowledgement that I am there and working for the greater good AND it's appreciated will keep me coming back for more 100+* weekends, more rain weekends, and more frigid weekends that $80 for gas money, a motel room, a T-shirt, etc.

Scott Franklin

[trobbins]

Ever since I have been involved with the track I call our home track . Waterford Hills .
I have been involved with volunteering my time . That is how our club survives though . It is member owned .
In fact it is a requirement for our novice drivers to have so many hours of volunteer time to get their full competition license .
This past season I made a bigger commitment though .
I worked F&C the whole season at every race including our vintage race as well as the Detroit G.P. and became a corner captain too .
This all came at a price though . This meant a very limited schedual of driving for myself .
Only two co-driver races and I ran the vintage weekend feature race .
I guess my point is that it is one or the other since it is tough for most to do both .

[Ed Funk]

All volunteers can consider this an open offer, to ride with Kakashi to any events we attend, and take advantage of any open accomodations we may have. We tow from Middletown, CT.

In '09 we may actually try to save some coin by sleeping in the enclosed trailer a few times. And, in truth, I prefer "camping at the track as long as there's showers: no travel time, beer and company is right there at the track, and occasionally you can get Fred to fall off the back of a golf kart and crack open his skull to add to the excitement!

GA

Good idea, we could provide transport and at least some kind of accomadations. We haven't figured out our schedule but will be doing at least a couple "road trips".

Is there a worker forum where availability could be posted? Or how do we let the workers know what we offer?

[LMcB]

Thanks, Greg and Ed, for offering to provide transportation and maybe some primitive accommodations to workers going to races. I also think it would be a great way for flaggers (and other workers) to get to know drivers better. It also shows, in a very cool way, how much appreciation you have for what the workers do. I love the idea.

How about if we set up a forum on the NER website called Worker Transportation. Drivers can post rides and accommodations they have available and from where, and workers can check the forum for what they need. That way they can contact drivers directly…no middleman required.

I would be willing to post a little reminder message a couple of weeks before each NER event asking for drivers to post information.

What do you think of this idea?

Leigh

[Greg Amy]

What do you think of this idea?

I think it's a great idea, especially if you send us links so we can update our status... <wink>

[JLawton]

Thanks, Greg and Ed, for offering to provide transportation and maybe some primitive accommodations to workers going to races. I also think it would be a great way for flaggers (and other workers) to get to know drivers better. It also shows, in a very cool way, how much appreciation you have for what the workers do. I love the idea.

How about if we set up a forum on the NER website called Worker Transportation. Drivers can post rides and accommodations they have available and from where, and workers can check the forum for what they need. That way they can contact drivers directly…no middleman required.

I would be willing to post a little reminder message a couple of weeks before each NER event asking for drivers to post information.

What do you think of this idea?

Leigh

Leigh,
That's a great idea. Also, if there is anything else we can help with. Does something need to be transported to the track, looking for a donation of something specific (a pop up, a cooler, mechanics gloves, etc) I always donate to the worker fund but as some have said that's not all that's needed.

I have not been involved in this sport for very long so please excuse my ignorance but... I am a driver in training and as I waited for schools last year I got hooked on flagging on my 'off' weekends. I just wanted to give an opinion on something that was brought up earlier; I drove to New Hampshire from New York by myself for a three day weekend last year and slept in my car in order to afford the excursion!! An offer of a floor for my sleeping bag or company for the evening would have been great!! After the workers party on Friday and Saturday I read a book by lantern sitting by my car door! This was my choice and I really had a great weekend but it could have been even more fun! I worked the corners because someone in my first school said it was the best way to learn to drive the corners and I did learn alot, however sitting with a veteran driver and getting advice could have been priceless! This year I hope to be in the car a lot more then on the corners but I do feel my experience was invaluable. When you are in the drivers' schools everyone is so free with stories and tips...that would be a great help to novices after a days race even if it is given while they are working on their cars and getting ready for the next days race!
Denise VanBuren

Denise, (on a side note)
Don't be afraid to approach drivers, especially those in your class. If you're not sure who they are you can ask some of the experienced workers. We're always willing to help out new drivers (as drivers, we all have big egos and like to talk about our sport!! :cool We usually hang out in the garage until late. (

What kind of car are you driving? Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[dlg208]

Flagging is a nice break over driving.

You don't have to tow a bunch of equipment.
Free beer from drivers.
Plenty of camaraderie with your fellow flaggers.

The 1st & last people at the party are F&C
If you've never tried it...You might like it

I generally do about as many SCCA weekends as I race. (along with IRL & vintage)
It's easy for me to drive the regionals and flag the nationals.

[LMcB]

Every time I tow to the track - every time - I have at least one empty seat in my Excursion. Sometimes three or four. Further, I always cover the accommodations for my friends/crew and I usually have at least a floor in my hotel room for a bedroll, if not an opportunity of an empty bed in a double room. And, I bet I'm not alone. There is absolutely no reason why that space - which costs nothing extra - shouldn't be made available to volunteer F&C folks, so that at least they don't have to drive themselves and pay for their own fuel and hotels.

So, one opportunity for us to help is to devise some kind of "ride/hotel share" system, where competitors can make those spaces available for our volunteers. I don't have any concrete suggestions for this - the idea just popped up after reading Leigh's note - but if we can address the costs factor for our volunteers I'd suggest the time factor may work itself out...

GA

The first NER event is coming up in 10 days or so at NHMS. I would like to try to put Greg's idea into action and see if we can't help each other out here. Last weekend we had a wildly successful Flag School at LRP with 73 novices attending. 73!!!! They were highly enthusiastic and engaged, and most of them want to come out and flag for SCCA this year. The reality is that only a few of them will come to any given event, but we want to do whatever we can to make it possible for even one flagger (new or returning) to come to an event they might not otherwise be able to come to.

If you are coming to the Drivers School and/or the Regional at NHMS on April 17 & 18, and you would be able and willing to give a lift to a worker (preferably a flagger ) please post that information on the NER Club Racing forum thread called "Worker Ride and Accommodations Exchange". (I'm not allowed to post links yet...) This is a trial, but it's worth trying, and with your generosity it can be successful. I would suggest posting where you are coming from and what time you are leaving and do the rest offline. If you can offer accommodations to share, however primitive, that's even better. The only stumbling block I foresee is that generally you will leave the track after your session is over, rather than at the end of the day, but let's just see what happens and try to work around it.

And, of course, if any of you have a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or relative who wants to come flag while you are racing, please send them my way and we'll take good care of them. My email address is nerflagchief AT fairpoint DOT net (that's one way to get around the posting restrictions!)

Thanks for any help you can give us!

Leigh

[RSTPerformance]

The only stumbling block I foresee is that generally you will leave the track after your session is over, rather than at the end of the day,

Leigh-

That is the biggest problem... I bummed rides for an entire year when I decided to Steward at every Northeast National race. I had no issue getting to the track, the issue was at the end of the day getting home. In a few cases I had to take off early and I felt like I didn't finish my commitment for the weekend. You may want to stress that every bit helps and we would love your help even if you need to leave early to catch a ride.

Great idea, I hope it helps!

Raymond "Greg your lucky you already live in CT as I will probably be checking the site for a ride or two!" Blethen