THSCC Forums

I thought this could be a thread on its own. I was thinking something that might make things easier, flow better, and have more even A/B grid lines is a few more rules for signing up for worker assignment and the enforcement of it by the grid worker. I noticed the grid worker had a list of people and was checking the person in the car was correct. So this could possibly work.

If it was made a requirement that the drivers of a two driver car worked the SAME heat then in general gridding would be able to follow the "if you are working the next heat get in line A" idea. The two driver cars would just have to do the get back in line in front of people type of thing like is done at rallyx. If the list the grid worker had could be marked with the worker assignment before people are sent out then as the grid worker checks the cars before sending them out he could also make sure that that person is in the right line A/B. Either that or the grid worker could write down which line the person is in in the morning and the afternoon worker would see which they were in, in the morning.

The opposite would be true as well. If the two driver cars had to sign up in opposite heats for worker assignments then the one driver in A one driver in B would work better as well. Solving the "i'm supposed to work next but i'm a two driver car so i need to run in B" problem that was brought up at the drivers meeting on sunday.

I'm not going to name names but in the afternoon on sunday when it was starting to lightly rain again it seemed there were at least a few single driver cars that were in line A that were in A in the morning. It seems fair that even though the weather might be getting bad and you "want to get your runs in" that you should still be fair. I ran in B both times because there were too many cars in A in the afternoon. It seems like if this was maintained a little better the grid would be a little more even between A/B which would probably help out with the flow in that area.

Just my $0.02

The two driver car where both drivers work in the same heat can be worked around easily -- talk to the grid worker. I worked with a certain individual on Saturday to make sure that he finished his runs in B well in time to work in the next heat. No problem.

But to the people that ran 1A on Sunday am to beat the rain, shame on you.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Not that I want to make more work for myself, but as work coordinator....we could start taking the list for the next worker group and make sure those people are running in A. If people not on the list for the next work group are found in A, we can ask them to move to line B. It's sad that this needs to be done, but I am guessing if we did it for a few events, people might get the idea that we are serious about it.

In regards to 2 driver cars, we certainly try to accomidate folks there. However, the biggest thing I heard as work coordinator was...we are a 2 driver car and we HAVE to ride with each other. Well....no, you don't. Someone is out there shagging your cones, you need to get your butt out there and shag thiers when it is your time. Everyone loves to ride along, but fact of the matter is, if it is making you late for your work assignment, you shouldn't be doing it. If you are working the next heat, you are expected to report to the bus as soon as Line A is done running.

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Stephen Westerfield
2009 Infiniti M35 | 2007 Honda Fit Sport | 2005 Ford Mustang GT |2000 GMC Sierra |1992 Acura Integra LS | Super Westerfield Bros Acura Integra

I think we as a club tend to try and over-engineer solutions. Hey, the logistics of Laurinburg makes worker coordination a pain.

How about this....stop the event for 5 minutes, take the workers out to their stations in the back of a pickup and bring the others in? During the 5 minutes, workers can check the course and water can be dropped off.

All workers assemble at the bus. The coordinator checks them off. Okay, we added 20 minutes onto the events. We can knock those 20 minutes off the driver's meeting

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

What do we do with the 5 workers that decide to be late (really)? We can't just leave the people out at the crossover to wait for the late folks to start walking.

I'm all for the idea (though it will likely take closer to 10-15 minutes per session).

I also agree that we sometimes over engineer things. We tend to plan for every possible scenario, which makes it more likely that people won't follow our plans.

Now that we appear to have better communications in the pits, we have a much greater chance of actually pulling this off.

Scott

a) make 'em walk
b) delete their fastest time

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

First off, if you are being given the opportunity to get a ride out to your station and you have ample notification, you will be there waiting. That is just human nature.

Plus, if you are assured that by playing by the rules, you will be relieved on time, you will be there.

If we continue to have major issues with Laurinburg and workers...go with run all 4 runs at one time. You 4 run groups and none of this A/B thing. Plus, you eliminate the people moving A to B or B to A to help themselves out

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

I don't have the answer, but I would like suggest that two-driver cars be allowed to ride together and work together. Some of of us are out here for fun and have the times to prove it, and riding and working together is a big part of it.

This weekend I ran in the "B" line both times on both days, since Cathie couldn't autocross for six weeks. But when we are both there, we really like to ride together.

My best time for both days was my one run with a Novice in the car with me on the first day. I guess I'm just not used to an laterally unbalanced Miata.

I do not see what the problem is with 2 driver cars in the same group(?). If we can trust them to run at the beginning and in the middle of the group, there is no issue. Otherwise, set aside an area for 2 driver cars and work them in.

C'mon ... the two driver cars have the same amount of time to get back to the pits, eat, drink, be merry and check in for their worker assignment as the last driver in their group. What is the problem?

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

Just to clarify....there is no reason that you can't run and work together....but you need to arrange that in such a fashion that it doesn't affect your work assignment. (You guys being registrars, it shouldn't matter). But for those folks that shag cones, just both run in the A group. Talk to the grid worker and they should be able to accomidate squeezing you both in. However...if there are 10 different 2 driver cars trying to do the same thing in one heat...that creates problems. Work with us....if you can't ride together every time...it isn't the end of the world. Do what you have to do, but make sure you show up for work on time is what we ask. We are all out there to have fun, but we have to give here and there to make it all work smoothly.

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Stephen Westerfield
2009 Infiniti M35 | 2007 Honda Fit Sport | 2005 Ford Mustang GT |2000 GMC Sierra |1992 Acura Integra LS | Super Westerfield Bros Acura Integra

Still don't get the problem if they are running and working together. Regardless, they will always be done at the end of either A or B. Maybe the rule should be that two driver cars run in the same group?

If these people want to ride together and they are in A and B, then you have an issue with the A driver never making it to their worker assignment on time. And we are forcing that scenario by making the two driver cars split across A and B.

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

I like this idea too, but it does upset the balance between the size of A versus B if that matters.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

I don't see the problem as organizational. I've had a co-driver for two years and we've always been able to do our worker assignments and ride with each other. We just don't waste time.
We had a problem Sunday getting relief after working the 1st heat. It wasn't Stephen's fault either. He asked who needed relief and sent 5 people (novices???) out to relieve us. They either stopped along the way to stations 6, 7 & 8 to work with their friends, or went back to the pits to avoid the rain. We finally got relieved by THSCC regulars who had run in the "B" group of heat 1. We watched the "A" group of heat 2 run as we walked back. It wasn't a big deal and we both ran in "B".
Perhaps, we could figure out a way to "encourage" new people to get to their correct work stations in a timely manner.

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Rubbin' is Racin'

We have worker sign up drive which group, correct? So if two driver cars worker together, then the balance should occur during worker sign up. I may be missing something...I missed the A drivers riding with the B drivers and thus being late to their worker assignment.

So the rule of thumb would be two driver cars run together and work together?

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

exactly what I was proposing to begin with..