There are definitely pros and cons to any of the four courses at Pocono. I was right there with you last year when they mentioned the idea of running the long course, but I'm not really on the decision making committee. In fact I'm really just helping to promote the event and offered to instruct, so my comments are just a personal opinion about why...

From strictly a driver's perspective, I love the East Course (not racing). It is like a large autocross course, and as long as there isn't much traffic, it's an absolute blast to drive. However, WHEN you encounter traffic at the East Course, it is very difficult to allow a safe pass in the short passing area there. One major reason the East Course was not considered primarily for the number of people we were expecting... it would be too crowded!

The South Course, well I'm just not a big fan of this course in general. It's kind of a snoozer, so I could really care less about this course.

The North Course is probably the best course to run a DE on since it has some really good turns and there is passing room, but we have the whole track to use, and we can not sublet out. I can't remember why though.

Using multiple courses was definitely something I was interested in seeing happen. However the major issue with trying to control more then one course is obviously a staffing issue. Grid, flaggers, EMTs, etc. Not only is it difficult to find enough qualified flaggers for the event, but since there are other activities in the area that weekend: NER's June Regional at Lime Rock Park, SCR June National, at Beaverun, plus there are some other local autocross events which is another pool for volunteers.

The Long course was decided upon since it's pretty much like the North Course, but it has more area, so if nothing else, it's not crowded at all. And WHEN you do encounter traffic, there is plenty of room to allow folks to pass. This is a big plus from both a driver's standpoint and an instructor's standpoint both in safety and in quality of time on track. I instructed last year at the South Course, and reigning in the student I had was difficult enough, having to also deal with lot's o' traffic was even more difficult since there were so many cars... "give yourself some space, plan your pass, try this, OK, how 'bout pitting in so we can discuss why you went off there..."

Honestly, after having instructed last year at the Long Course, I had to admit, it was a blast to drive on, and I found it to be rather safe from an instructor's standpoint. Traffic was easy to deal with, and for both the agressive and passive students, there was much less pressure, since there was plenty of space.

So I have to respectfully disagree with you that the Long Course is "horrible", though, again, I thought the same way you do, before I actually instructed there.

The other plus for attracting qualified instructors was being able to provide FREE track time on a course that SCCA racers would be running on.

PS. I would still love to see a time when we can use two or three courses at the same time... it really does become more of a logistic problem to solve then anything else.


So, back on topic, are you interesting in helping, either as an instructor or as a worker?