Event #3 Bristol Recap

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Miata22
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Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by Miata22 »

I want to thank everyone that helped running the event. We had 80 timed competitors for day. Everyone got 6 runs and we were complete by 3pm.
John Brown designed a great course that was very fun to drive and maintained speed very well with a fast finish.
Ben Keffer special thanks for breaking our run groups and providing support on computers. Thank you for your suggestions on trailer.
Dave Rogers did a fantastic job in tech. He caught some safety on several cars. One in particular had two broken lugnuts.
Trae and Cindy really stepped up and had van and trailer opened up early. Also they stayed and help load and park trailer at end of day.
Nick did a terrific job setting up timing and PA system. They also unload and loaded trailer at end of day.
So many really pitched in that I haven’t mentioned.
Timing was much better this week with only one small stoppage from a car bumping the cones in front on the finish line lights. caused 3-4 reruns.
We tried out the headsets and had positive reviews.
Ben has been reimbursed for the cost. He will provide receipt.
Jim Thomas stopped and picked up water and ice for the event and he was also reimbursed.
Had one major motor failure towards end of day in which we had to move lane after the finish to stay away from water and oil.
We had trophy presentation at end of event.
Again, thanks for everyone's helps.

Things that we need for next event
Oil Dry. we are out. Water and Ice.
Make sure we have the sanction and cash box for the event.
I will give money and keys to van to Jeff tomorrow.
The van and trailer are hooked up and setting in gravel parking lot at Bristol.
Randy Adkins
dewittpayne
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by dewittpayne »

That was fun. It was nice to have new tires and grip. But I was so excited about the tires and other stuff about the car, I forgot to turn off stability control. Something to remember for next time.
DeWitt Payne
2011 Mustang GT CAM-C

"Tires are meant to die young." Heyward Wagner
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ConeEater
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by ConeEater »

Had a good time and it was good to see everyone.

Few issues I had was that I wish it would've been 3 heats instead of 2... that way everyone had a chance to get a break. It wasn't a HOT day, but 90 ish minutes out there without the ability to really drink ( cars pace was such that every 20 seconds you had the potential to be running ) and with no porta johns around, you better not have to go. It would've been roughly the same amount of time than we had taken up.

whoever was the radio person in the trailer either couldn't hear well in there or wasn't used to it IMO.
1) corners SHOULD be calling in what corner they are calling from...
"control, this is corner #3..."
"go ahead 3"
"corner 3, +1 ( or 1 cone ) on 58SSC"
"Copy that 3, +1 on 58SSC"

THAT is how is should be done. The radio person saying "You don't need to do that" to us, and then getting confused when multiple corners are calling in is precisley reason we call corners in.
He couldn't hear when I stated a cont on Dewitt ( car #7) vs car #33 CAM-C ( joh Ward ) and I had to say 7 ... 3 times before he got it... same with 7 to 77.... I spoke clearly ( and quite loudly at one point due to the CAM cars ) and held the button down for2-3 seconds before speaking so there was NO chance of something getting cut off.
There was at least 1 cone @ corner 4 called on the wrong car because of the corner worker not seeing the cone and then going out after the next driver, then the corner captian sees him running and naturally thinks it was THAT car, and not the 1st one. That's not a dig at the corner captain because he had no way to know.

Drivers that take time out to get numbers made need to be aware how hard they are to see at speed. STU car ( gray Focus RS ) was easy to read the number, but his class under is was small and thin and hard to see. More than one corner captain was heard on the radio "That gray Focus... I can't tell what class".

It's early in the season, so I try not to be critical, but corner captains are trying to do their job and can't.
The bit about the radio calls - we've got a national event coming up and if ANY of the locals come out and run, they need to know how things work on a national level and we need to show them that so they aren't surprised and confused when/if they go to one.

GREAT course... just enough to hang yourself with and learn to be patient at a few spots. enough fast parts to make everyone happy.

Thanks to the staff and board for putting on a great event overall. I only did 5 of my 6 runs as I wasn't feeling well ( my fault - didn't bring snacks ) and wasn't going to go out on course and put myself or others at risk.
Brian Huber
2021 Stingray Coupe ( NOT for cone hitting )
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MARKP
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by MARKP »

Sounds like everyone did a great job stepping up to help where needed. Great suggestion on the radio calls, Brian. I agree that helps keep it straight.
Mark Pilson
03 Z06 - Sword
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FrankF
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by FrankF »

Thanks for a great event everyone!

Brian, I’m happy to chat with you at the next event about why calling in the station is unnecessary and leads to more issues. The specific example examples you used must have been due a walkie error. You were cutting out consistently.
Frank Forcino
2019 Miata
benk
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by benk »

Our trailer does a GREAT job of acting as a bad faraday cage for radio transmissions. Just saying.
Ben Keefer
2011 WRX : STH
dewittpayne
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by dewittpayne »

Brian,
corners SHOULD be calling in what corner they are calling from...
"control, this is corner #3..."
"go ahead 3"
"corner 3, +1 ( or 1 cone ) on 58SSC"
"Copy that 3, +1 on 58SSC"
It's SOP at races to use that procedure. On the other hand, there is a dedicated com operator in race control and a separate team doing timing and scoring, not to mention having transponders on the cars. I would have thought the headsets would have made things better. It looks like there are a couple of extra calls, but it can save time because everybody knows when the call goes through.
DeWitt Payne
2011 Mustang GT CAM-C

"Tires are meant to die young." Heyward Wagner
thrdeye
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by thrdeye »

Yeah, for a local event there's no reason for corner numbers or permission to talk, it just takes more time and effort for no real benefit. Corners just need to not talk over each other. If that's happening consistently, it's probably some technical issue with the walkie. Corner numbers are needed at national events for auditing so in case someone thinks the cone penalty was misassigned the protest people know who to go talk to. At national events, there's also a specific person to record those radio calls.

Timing - everyone should have to work it (with some supervision) at some point. :)
Chris Harp
2009 Mazda RX-8 | 2018 Toyota Tundra | 2011 BMW M3
jcox07
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by jcox07 »

If anyone wants to learn how to do timing come to the Mopar event on June 11th and that would be a good test day as we have an event on June 12th as well. So if you have thought about learning timing come on out and we can get you in the trailer for some learning.....JY
JY ( Jeff ) Cox
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benk
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by benk »

dewittpayne wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 7:00 am Brian,
corners SHOULD be calling in what corner they are calling from...
"control, this is corner #3..."
"go ahead 3"
"corner 3, +1 ( or 1 cone ) on 58SSC"
"Copy that 3, +1 on 58SSC"
It's SOP at races to use that procedure. On the other hand, there is a dedicated com operator in race control and a separate team doing timing and scoring, not to mention having transponders on the cars. I would have thought the headsets would have made things better. It looks like there are a couple of extra calls, but it can save time because everybody knows when the call goes through.
We only used headsets for starter and grid yesterday.
Ben Keefer
2011 WRX : STH
dewittpayne
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by dewittpayne »

We only used headsets for starter and grid yesterday.
One of the possible problems with people talking over each other is that they're not actually listening to the radio some of the time. Headsets for everyone would help. Do the radios use the standard 3,5mm jack for headphones? If they do, I can bring the headphones I used at races with a scanner.
DeWitt Payne
2011 Mustang GT CAM-C

"Tires are meant to die young." Heyward Wagner
benk
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by benk »

dewittpayne wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 1:00 pm
We only used headsets for starter and grid yesterday.
One of the possible problems with people talking over each other is that they're not actually listening to the radio some of the time. Headsets for everyone would help. Do the radios use the standard 3,5mm jack for headphones? If they do, I can bring the headphones I used at races with a scanner.
No they do not use 3.5 mm jacks. Motorola has a headset that is compatible. We tried them Sunday in Grid and at Start to make sure they would actually work for us and will have a discussion about how many to get and where they should be used and if we want to expand their use. I didn't think of them as a tool to reduce crosstalk but that is a good point.
Ben Keefer
2011 WRX : STH
steverife
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Re: Event #3 Bristol Recap

Post by steverife »

I've spent 6-7 hours a day at work wearing a headset on conference calls the last 2 years. I can assure you that wearing a headset doesn't prevent people from talking over each other.
'16 FRS - PSTX 97
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