Landracing Forum
East Coast Timing Association => ECTA General Chat => Topic started by: Dan Stokes on April 06, 2009, 12:10:25 AM
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I never know what to write about this. Any words I write just seem too small. As I've said before - "No Volunteers, No Racing". This time we had the greatest number of volunteers EVER and it is true that many hands make light work. Whether you worked all weekend or helped clean up the track after the oil downs or helped pack out this afternoon - THANKS.
If I missed thanking any of you in person, please considered yourself thanked now. Keith and Tonya and Joe and Donna also expressed their deepest thanks to all.
Dan Stokes
Volunteer Coordinator, ECTA
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Dan,
Thanks for coordinating all those volunteers. That is a hugely important job to keep Maxton running smoothly.
In planning for the next meet how long does packup on Sunday afternoon usually take for the volunteers?
Jarl
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For the first time, I stuck around for about an hour spooling cable and breaking down the tower. I hope to make it a habit. Thanks to all the volunteers for making the event run smoothly.
Now if we could get the safety trucks to show up on time, we'd be in business!
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It was my first time doing the Icky Oil-Down Shuffle and I have to admit it was almost fun! Then again, it wasn't 100 degrees in June either at the time. :-D It may have even been the main factor to my loosing 4 lbs over the weekend! :cheers:
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Now if we could get the safety trucks to show up on time, we'd be in business!
aint that the truth!
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A big "thank you". This was a great time this weekend!!!!!!!!!!
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So we started teching bikes about 2 Friday afternoon, knowing (KNOWING) that there'd be far less than there'd be cars. About 5PM I had Nancy take a photo lkooking down the line of bikes. There must have been about fifty of 'em in line! Gee-zul-man, my aching back. . . I worked 'til about 7 and there were still a few hangers-on that needed finishing.
Some requests from the guys/girls that inspect. PLEASE! If you are asked to make some modifications, whether simple -- better safety wire or a better hold down for your battery or whatever -- take your bike out of line and do the work elsewhere. Then come back with the finished bike so we can get you completed. Trust us -- we'll try to help you skip through in stead of having to wait in line again.
If your inspector asks you for a change - don't spend too much time arguing that you've been approved for the past XXX events without that having been required. It may be so -- whether it was missed or it's a new rule or whatever -- arguing with the inspector won't get you anywhere other than a cranky inspector. PLEASE accept the fact that we're there to get you on the track with a vehicle that meets our requirements, and even if it's something you don't aggree with -- the inspector can't allow you to proceed.
Worst of all is the racer that arrives with something that doesn't meet the requirements and cheats. The biggest example we saw this weekend is the fellow that had a helmet with a Snell M95 sticker. When told he wouldn't be allowed to use the helmet he found a newer one that had the correct cert. and we approved it with one of our stickers. Later on, in line at staging, he was seen wearing the first helmet -- with the sticker he had peeled off the "okay" one. Come on, guys and girls -- it's your head we're looking out for. The stickers we use aren't that difficult to move around from one helmet to another -- so we have to rely on you to not cheat. It's your head we're trying to protect. By the way -- if I had been at the line to see the "wrong" helmet I would simplyhave taken the helmet to Al and let him chat with the rider when the guy asked for the helmet back. That would have been a good bit of entertainment for Al, no doubt.
Inspectors are NOT trying to keep anyone from racing. Get that through your heads and everything will be a lots smoother.
Thanks -- end of rant.
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Well said Jon !!
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Agreed! Well said Jon! The simple truth is we're all racers & most of us are pretty nice. :evil: If you don't meet the requirements we'll all get through the process a lot faster if you just ask how can I meet the requirements and if necessary followed up with can you please help me or recommend someone that can help me. All that arguing does is delay the inevitable and delay the folks behind you. So those of you in line that see someone ahead of you not prepared properly or struggling, help them out cause it will get you out of the tech line sooner. ;)
Another point on this is that as time goes on we see & learn new stuff. Sometimes we see a new safety concern that may or may not be highlighted by our rules. Once we see it we check everyone. This is for your safety so don't be offended. We're not trying to beat you down we're trying to make sure you have safe fun and are able to return to race with us again! We're not the enemy, really we're not! For those of you with the faster bikes, yeah, we're looking at them harder. We do it because we want you to be safe and we don't want to have to consider speed restrictions if we can't keep our top competitors safe. I don't know about you but I welcome additional eyes looking over what I'm gonna ride. ;)
Debbie
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man oh man did Todd sock it to me :-D no just kidding. I had some minor safety infractions that were noted and I had corrected by Sat. morning. No big fuss. Todd and Deb were nice enough to hold on to my tech sheet. One quick check to make sure I made all of the corrections and I was a go. :cheers:
Todd gave light to something I would never have noticed and I'm sure not to many others would notice either. The lanyard/teather line i have was aged. It still coiled fine and when I yanked on it it would disconnect at the connector and kill my engine. What Todd pointed out was at the point whether the plastic coil is crimped to a ring the plastic had thinned itself out over time. With a light two finger pinch Todd demonstrated this by rolling the cord between his fingers and it snapped right off. Better to fail tech then fail during a pass when it's most critical. Todd also mentioned to me of the newer designs that use a nylon cord. Sure wnough today while searching around inline I found it. Funny thing. The same company I got my original plastic lanyard years ago is the one selling the new nylon style one. :-)
Everyone should listen to tech and head their advice/warnings/gospel/etc. Take your bike back to your put area, make the corrections needed and you'll notice there's still plenty of time before the racing to get squared away with out delaying everyone else in the tech line and confusing the whoel process. :cheers:
Thanks Todd & Deb
(Todd - btw, I'm getting you a tech engineer that will be able to provide you more info on the rotors. They're in the UK so I'll no more in a few days)
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Thanks to all the people at ECTA in Maxton for the warm welcome I received! Without out a doubt, you are the most friendly and helpful bunch of sympatico lunatics I have ever met!
Special thanks to Bob and Todd, without whom I would not have passed tech! See you all soon!
Walt
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I'm more nervous in tech than any other time (maybe that would be dif if I went fast), but talk about "no volunteers, no racing"! Nobody gets more heat than they do--they share the temperature. No volunteers work more hours. Thanks to all of you for your caring and time.
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Ken - Good point on the inspectors! I don't "coordinate" the inspectors so they tend not to be on my mind as much, but they are GREAT folks. I hope we can work out a schedule so late arrivals can get teched when they come in. It worked out this time just great but it doesn't always. (I get to go hunt down someone in these situations and the inspectors are generally racing by then).
As I said before - THANKS to all
Dan
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Well, Dan -- maybe it worked out great from your point of view, but things could have been a little more smooth from the point of Todd and me and the others that inspected. At one point I had Nancy mosey to the middle of the return road and shoot a photo of the line of bikes awaiting inspection. It looked about a mile long.
We're working on smoothing the inspection process with a new rule or two about how to get into and through inspection at Maxton. Come visit us in mid-May -- you'll see, I hope. Smooth and quick and not too much cranky time in line.
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why wouldnt the dude who cheated on the helmet....simply be escorted of
out of the event....????
that infraction put him and the sanctioning body in a very dangerous place.....
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Indeed, Joe -- you've hit upon one of the issues that'll be resolved before the next event. I'd expect the easy way will be to emulate the SCTA with stickers that can't be removed without damage -- so the dude would end up with a fractured sticker that'd be instantly noticeable. Yes, you're right about putting the event and the organization in jeopardy.
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I do the best I can but every car that I inspect as it go down the track I ask my self DID I miss any thing.
terry
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When I say "it worked out....". I was able to snag the guy with the Harley w/ape hanger bars (I apologize that I can't pull up your name) from shut down and he came to inspection to do a few that showed up mid-day on Saturday. Terry and the Matys (and Keith, IIRC) did the same for the car folks. I didn't mean to imply that more improvements would not be useful and I'm pleased that y'all are working out methods to make this work better.
Again, thanks to all who pitch in at this critical area.
Dan
Well, Dan -- maybe it worked out great from your point of view, but things could have been a little more smooth from the point of Todd and me and the others that inspected. At one point I had Nancy mosey to the middle of the return road and shoot a photo of the line of bikes awaiting inspection. It looked about a mile long.
We're working on smoothing the inspection process with a new rule or two about how to get into and through inspection at Maxton. Come visit us in mid-May -- you'll see, I hope. Smooth and quick and not too much cranky time in line.
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You know, our cell phone numbers aren't a big secret and we've usually got a good hour or so wait in the staging lines & it's far better to grab an active tech that's up on the current rules then just some guy riding around on a bike... just a thought! ;)
Terry,
Todd has taught me and other techs that always doing a thorough job while teching, despite how annoyed the techee gets, relieves one's mind when that vehicle leaves and goes to run. Todd and I teched DaveO's bike (and we made him fix stuff too!). We've thought about it briefly as most humans would, but there was no doubt and nothing to dwell on. Not saying you're not doing the job, just saying you should do the job to the point that your conscience is free. We all make mistakes and miss stuff but that's why we have more then one tech!
just my thoughts.
Debbie
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Deb---I agree, when I am inspecting I am guided by the rules, concerns for the driver-riders safety, and most importantly--- MY CONSIENCE.
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Deb -
I have regarded inspectors in the staging lanes as "out of service" - that's your time to race. If you guys want to alter that I am, of course, happy to go along with your decision. The guy I grabbed was regarded by Keith and all as highly qualified - again, I apologize that I can't pull up his name - maybe someone can remember who he is. His is a name I've heard, for sure.
Please keep me abreast of whatever procedural changes you decide on so I can implement them from my end. Like with my service to Keith and the rest of the ECTA, my job is to do what you decide you want me to do and I just want to make your jobs as easy as possible.
Dan
You know, our cell phone numbers aren't a big secret and we've usually got a good hour or so wait in the staging lines & it's far better to grab an active tech that's up on the current rules then just some guy riding around on a bike... just a thought! ;)
just my thoughts.
Debbie
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Dan, Deb and others
SCTA has a printed operating procedure for El Mirage. You should be able to pull it up on the web site. It is updated each year. You might want to print it out and see what you think and make something like it for Maxton. Your venue is different and having something in print that can be given to the racer would get everyone on the same page.
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Deb---I agree, when I am inspecting I am guided by the rules, concerns for the driver-riders safety, and most importantly--- MY CONSIENCE.
That is the way I do it but I'm anel or is that just an az :-D
terry
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Terry,
You and all the other Tech's are very thorough, detailed and quite helpful,,,It may not be said often enough,,
But we all appreciate the job you do,, looking out for all our safety needs and concerns...
Keep up the good work...
Charles
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Starting with the May event, The ECTA will be using tamper-proof helmet stickers. The pre-press sample was approved yesterday.
Joe Timney
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Starting with the May event, The ECTA will be using tamper-proof helmet stickers. The pre-press sample was approved yesterday.
Joe Timney
:cheers:
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Just a note about the lanyard. I got one of those inexpensive kill switches . with a red plastic coil cord . I gave it a yank and it just pulled out of the metal clip and left the plastic plug still connected .
Bart suggested I use an old phone cord to replace it . The cord has metal inside so it is much stronger and comes in different colors.
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Starting with the May event, The ECTA will be using tamper-proof helmet stickers. The pre-press sample was approved yesterday.
Joe Timney
Excellent
Looking for the helmet tag is one of the things I look for on the Starting Line, before I wave them off on a run.
I think I can say for the entire Starting Line team, that we look forward to seeing what a tampered one looks like, so I can look out for them.
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Dan, I'm still awaiting your response to my email of a week or so ago. In case you've misplaced or lost it or didn't get it -- I'd like your esitmate of the number of volunteers that'll be working at Maxton this month.
Thanks.
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Jon -
Thought I replied to that one. Oh, well - been TRYING to get the Buzz Bomb to the track for this meet so I'm a bit preoccupied.
Anyhow - not to be obtuse (or chartruse) but I never really know how many vols. Some folks check in, some don't and some ALWAYS show up - unless they don't. I'm expecting 20 or so, but I never really know until folks get there. If we get a big enough volunteer pool I'd love to set this up better with a schedule and so forth, but so far there just isn't enough consistency to make that work.
Dan
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Dan,
Be there about noon friday--if Kim will let me in.
-ken
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Same here.
:-D
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:-D Volunteers are such an important part of our events. Joe, Keith, Donna and Tonya work so hard to put on this event just for us racers, they do not get enough credit. They just can't do it all by themselves. I always feel guilty because I do not get involved enough with the organization because I come to race too. I do take every opertunity, as well as my team, to help whenever I can. As for Al, boy did we miss him this last weekend. Lets all pray for a speedy recovery for him. I am afraid I will miss the June meet, but I am sure I will see everyone in B'ville in August.
Street Rod Steve, Car # 1946