Development of mentor program?

[raffaelli]

This site is full of mentors. Everyone on this site has given me help, advice and/or encouragement.

[Andy Bettencourt]

Dave,

As you may know, at least ion NER, autox has a novice program. You get walk arounds, you get classed with other beginners and race based on an index etc. It works well.

Whomever has volunteered to be the drivers reps should attend the last few classroom sessions at each school. Introductions, etc. They would be the go-to people for any questions and issues. I think it may already be built into the system, we just have to expand it a little.

[gran racing]

My orginal thought and personal experiences were that much of the challenge isn't necessarily finding help once a person actually gets to the track be it autocross, HPDEs or Club Racing. Having someone they can physically speak with before to add that one more piece of comfort level is where I was thinking it would be useful.

Do you think something like this wouldn't be of much value then? Quite truthfully, in many respects I'd rather not attempt to coordinate putting something like this together (realization of how big a project it would be). I'd be curious to hear more of your thoughts.

[JLawton]

Dave,


Whomever has volunteered to be the drivers reps should attend the last few classroom sessions at each school. Introductions, etc. They would be the go-to people for any questions and issues. I think it may already be built into the system, we just have to expand it a little.

My opinion is that is the responsibilty of the instructor. I don't feel that our responsibility ends after the school. I've always made sure that they have my contact information and encourage them to contact me with ANY questions. I take a great deal of pride in the fact I keep in contact with most of my students and have become friends with many of them.

I think Dave hit the nail on the head. It's getting those people who want to get on the track but don't know how or don't realize how easy (relatively speaking) it is.

Since last summer I've been listed as the "New Driver Ambassador" for NER and even wrote an article for Pit Talk but have had only around 10 people contact me. And I think all of them had already been on track in one form or another.

Maybe you/we could get the different organizations to post a link on their websites saying something like: "So, you think you want to get on the track, click here" and have it feed into the site you're thinking about. Would they all do it?? I don't know. PDA, NASA, SCCA, SCCA regions, EMRA, COM, etc. Too bad the magazines wouldn't allow us to put an ad in for free...........

[Flyinglizard]

A form E mail to other sites as a public service A, might be well recieved.
Keep in mind that POC, BMW, clubs really dont think a lot of the SCCA racers, for some reason.. Maybe the spec Miata videos??
Just a email for region questions( iwould use the word" iquiries" if I could spell it) , make up a list of contacts to send out, etc. IMHO. MM

[gran racing]

After Andy's post, I began to wonder more about the worth of doing this. I posted on another site where I know several novices go to and got my answer. I was actually a little surprised with how many PMs I received from people asking for this to happen. In addition to those, a couple of people involved in NASA also volunteered to help out with things. Maybe in reality people won't enroll in it but at least it will be made available to them.

Jeff, there might be ways to get some magazines to print a press release about this.

[gran racing]

Do you think putting a free "ad" (basically small logo) on the mentor page and in the student welcome package for clubs who promote this program would entice them? Have mixed thoughts on this.

[alberto_mg]

After Andy's post, I began to wonder more about the worth of doing this. I posted on another site where I know several novices go to and got my answer. I was actually a little surprised with how many PMs I received from people asking for this to happen. In addition to those, a couple of people involved in NASA also volunteered to help out with things. Maybe in reality people won't enroll in it but at least it will be made available to them.

Jeff, there might be ways to get some magazines to print a press release about this.

I agree with you. I'm active on other forums and the "how to get into racing" question comes up very regularly. I refer them to your book of course but having a means to locate a local mentor and go to the track would be helpful to a newbie.

[alberto_mg]

Do you think putting a free "ad" (basically small logo) on the mentor page and in the student welcome package for clubs who promote this program would entice them? Have mixed thoughts on this.

It might help. Anyone that has already become a member of a club like SCCA or NASA is pretty far down the path and somewhat informed already.

[gizmo83]

It sounds like you guys are already convinced but...one new person's opinion,
The idea of a new drivers' information packet is excellent. All you get when you register for your first school is the Supps!
In my very little experience, sometimes you don't have intelligent questions to ask at first and just being asked to sit in and listen to veteran 'bench racing' after a session on the track is invaluable! The instructors and helpful drivers that have pulled me along so far are the only reason we keep trying! Well that and it's fun!
I hope you do get a form of this going...Can I still get a Mentor?
Denise

[gran racing]

Denise,
I've actually decided to keep moving along with this and am plugging away at it. Kai helped give me the extra nudge and there's little to lose by at least giving it a go.

There have been a few things that I've been working on such as how to administer the program. At first the plan was quite simple and I'd have someone complete a word doc created in Word then I'd take the information and consolidate it into an Excel spreadsheet. One of my co-workers / friends laughed at that idea. I knew that was far from perfect. So instead she's finalizing on-line student and mentor applications where the information gets put into a database and reports can be run against it. IF this program were to actually grow, that will make life much easier!

I spoke with SCCA national about the mentor program and am sure they'll make an announcement as one of their top stories. It's moving along and will be ready this Spring. Several people have already volunteered to help with this and not only from SCCA. Pretty cool!! (I'll send some type of brief update shortly to those who contacted me with interest in helping out.)

[cherbi7]

If you need a list of all the dumb newbie questions for a possible pamphlet I have plenty of them. I think this is a great idea and could be very beneficial to us new guys.

[EP3CivicSi]

As someone who is currently building an IT car and plans to go to a drivers school in the next year or so, this would be a neat program. I plan on attending some club racing events at NJMP this year and it would be nice to chat up some guys (who arent too busy during the event) who don't mind letting total noobs like me in on the process and intricacies . I'd be interested to see everyone's best ideas. I know from reading "take the wheel" and autocrossing with the Philly SCCA the last 3 years that the veterans are usually pretty accepting and knowledgable, but having a set program would make the transition from aspiring racer to racer that much easier.

[gran racing]

Yes, I'd be interested in getting those questions. In addition to the mentor program, I'm in the process of making the contents of my book as well as additional information into an online resource. That would be helpful. Send them to [email protected] . Thanks!!

[darkside]

A mentor program is a great idea. I'm not sure how formal it has to be. I think the hardest part is getting ready for a rookie season before you get to the track for the first time. This is when rookies need the most help. I was fortunate enough to make a few contacts from message boards and driver's school to get all the info I needed.


At the track should be easy. If a rookie needs help they need to approach somebody and ask questions. The drivers that have been at this a while can spot a new driver and should lend a hand or a few pointers.

[DavidTuaty]

I think it's a fantastic idea and I volunteer myself down here in South Florida.
Any questions and or work on your track or race cars. count me in

David Tuaty
www.TuatyLeiraMotorsports.com
305-216-5390

[steve b]

I'm new enough at racing to remember all the worrying for nothing and stress that I felt as I took the steps to get into racing. So let me throw in my two cents.

I don't know if all noobs go through this or if it is just my personality type, but I worried about every step of becoming a racer starting from downloading the medical form on.

It would be ideal if there were a link somewhere on the SCCA site, preferably near the medical form and novice application form download site that would say "If you would like to be assigned a mentor to guide you through the steps click here".

Ideally, a racer from your region would contact you well ahead of your first school and guide you through such matters as the physical, novice permit application, school registration, car tech, and it would be great if they could be present during the first school.

Email exchanges prior to the school can go over things like safety gear, tow rigs, parking at the paddock, camping at the track, etc.

I'm sure this sounds like basic things to veteran racers, but these were the things that I worried about. I had a load of track days under my belt when I finally took the leap, the driving on the track was the least of my worries.

[Z3_GoCar]

It sounds like you guys are already convinced but...one new person's opinion,
The idea of a new drivers' information packet is excellent. All you get when you register for your first school is the Supps!
In my very little experience, sometimes you don't have intelligent questions to ask at first and just being asked to sit in and listen to veteran 'bench racing' after a session on the track is invaluable! The instructors and helpful drivers that have pulled me along so far are the only reason we keep trying! Well that and it's fun!
I hope you do get a form of this going...Can I still get a Mentor?
Denise

When I went through super school with Cal-Club almost 4 years ago, I recieved a Drivers training manual. It covers the basics of skills of race driving.

Dave,

You might want to contact Jim Bishop, Cal-Club's chief instructor, for a copy rather than starting from scratch. (I just noticed it copyright 2004 Danny McKeever's Fastlane Driving shcool)

[gran racing]

I don't know if all noobs go through this or if it is just my personality type, but I worried about every step of becoming a racer starting from downloading the medical form on.

Could be somewhat related to personality type, but I felt the same way too.

James,
Fortunately I'm starting off with a ton of information that’s already put together. (All of the topics from this page http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/Contents.html will be on the site.) There's a quite a bit of other topics I want to add to it such as driving techniques, but at the same time I'm trying not to get too bogged down with that yet.

SCCA continues to be supportive of this and based on my recent conversations, they’ll add links in places people will see. I also have 10,000 flyers that I had printed which will be inserted into the new membership packages. A more challenging task will be attempting to get regions to add it to their sites, and getting people to actually take advantage of peoples’ willingness to help.