biggrizzly

Hi All,

I'm new to the Autocross/Roadracing forum here and have been lurking this space for a while. My club is an NCCC club and we are hosting our first "home" autocross event this coming weekend. Just for information I'd like to find out what you guys think your biggest gripes are with the organization and management of autocross events.

I have already had someone tell me to "START ON TIME" -- Ok got that.
What else?

Thanks for your comments. Blast away

AtomicZ

Be prepared to sit all day long to get in 4 or 5 runs. Autocross is a great way to learn your car but you spend a lot of time waiting around.

Lawdogg

1. Making participants work at the event. Host club should get enough non-racing members to show up and work.

2. Not making rerun drivers wait sufficient time for their tires to cool so as not to have an unfair advantage.

3. Not posting run results quickly.

4. When someone gets to bypass the line waiting to run for whatever reason and bringing them all the way to the front of the line and going ahead of those just about to run. Place them 3 or 4 cars back so as not to disrupt the mental prep of those just about to run.

Lancer033

I've never not worked...is that not normal?

66IISS

Sometimes the "Chiefs" can get by without working, but that's because they put so much time preparing for the event, etc. They put in a lot more time outside of the event than anyone else.

Other than that, it's completely normal to work every event. We're usually lucky if we only have to work one heat at an event, usually you work every heat you're not running.

As far as gripes go, some of my larger ones are:

1. In-experienced / stubborn people working timing. I've been in the bus multiple times when the person on the radio doesn't really listen to the advice you have to give and it ends up slowing down the event. Also, it's somewhat crucial to have a knowledgeable person on the computer, otherwise the event can get heavily delayed due to timing issues. I've been guilty of this myself, but it still annoys me

2. Un-attentive course workers. It's very distracting to spot down cones or course workers running while you're out on a run. Hopefully they can run fast, because I don't slow down for running workers....

3. Un-attentive drivers / workers in general. You're all adults, pay attention and be prepared when you have to run and work. It gets annoying having to call for workers constantly because you weren't paying attention to what was going on. Furthermore, when you're driving, be ready when it's your turn to leave grid. I don't like having to wait behind a car because you were too busy chatting to climb in your car.

Our clubs tend to be pretty good with this, but lastly, make sure you have balanced heats. One heat with 100 cars and one with 50 gets irritating.

69autoXr

Many times at NCCC events the host club is able to get enough non-running volunteers to come out and work so that the racers don't have to.

Some clubs (like mine) can't muster enough non-running volunteers and have to require the entrants to work in order to make the event happen. In my opionion this is preferred anyway because at least the entrants have a clue about what's going on instead of ten course workers who've never done it before and throw a red flag if a cone is hit.

sperkins

Hosting an event in a venue that is not large enough to offer a decent course is a great way to have a bad event. My local SCCA region hasn't come up with a good place yet. Needless to say attendance and membership is pretty low.

Call me lazy, but working the course is retarded. It doesn't leave participants much time to change setups when needed. Most guys would gladly pay extra to hire folks to work it all day. I can't wait for some organization to actually figure that out.

biggrizzly

Some good comments. I think NCCC requires drivers to assist. I'm not sure about that, but need to check the rule book on that one.

Keep them coming all of them are great learning points!!!

BrianCunningham

I've always worked Autox events.

Most of my high speed stuff has had hired workers.

Bill Dearborn

Some times it is impossible to get enough non-participants to work the course. My club is that way. Out of 45 members we generally have 8 people who autocross. None of the other club members will come to an event. Not even to look. We tend to run our events at Go Kart Tracks where we can watch the whole course and a minimum number of cones are required. That way the number of workers is limited to a starter, timer, somebody to make sure cars are lined up and somebody to watch the course. That way our 8 people can run an event and actually participate in it. NCCC's 3 wheels off rule makes it easier to determine when a car is off course from a distance so we don't need to actually have somebody out on the course watching for stuff, resetting cones, etc.

Bill

TedDBere

Here are my biggest gripes:

1) Not enough women.

2) Prize money is too small.

3) Crummy toilet paper. (Lehman put me on to this problem...and he's right!)

4) Rain.

Other than those I like autox.

See what you can do about those issues and good luck running the event.

biggrizzly

What's the 3 wheels off rule? I'm not familiar

66IISS

For the most part, people would not be willing to "hire" someone to work a simple auto-x course. Yes, it leaves little time for setup change, but that's the nature of the beast. There's a reason high speed stuff (HPDE and high-speed auto x) are significantly more expensive.

I know for our club, if we were to increase the charge 10$, that's enough to hire maybe 20 (max) course workers for the day. That's working over 8 hours in the sun for $50. I'd say 20 would be the bare absolute bare minimum for working corners alone. Realistically, we need about 50 workers minimum per heat to man the event. That's not including setup, tear down, etc. So conservatively speaking, you'd need about 60 workers minimum to run an event, most likely more. For an 8 hour day, I'd say $10 / hr is the least you could pay them, so that's $80 / worker, so $2400. For an average of 110 people per event, sometimes more and sometimes less, that's an increase of $22 per person. Even then, I think you'd have a heck of a time finding 60 people willing to work on a Sunday regardless of the conditions for a relatively small wage. That puts the price of the event (at least ours) to just shy of $75 for a walkup, non member. For that price, I'd most likely save it and go to a High-speed.

vetteracer92

If space allows, set up a nice smooth flowing course that will allow more than one car on track.(we had 4 at one time).

We are either driving or working, with only about 30 drivers each event. We also get between 6 to 8 runs each that are more than a minute long, some are 3 minutes long too.

biggrizzly

This is great. I'm compiling all of these comments and taking them tonight to our meeting to share with the rest of the guys that are organizing the event. I'm just the lowley club president and I make sure everyone is happy!

Lancer033

local club here does 6 groups, 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. you work 1 and drive 1. there's plenty of time for basics stuff.

Jason

Write this down:
Worker beer

66IISS

I'd stop going if there weren't beer there. I'm naturally attracted to the stuff.

BrianCunningham

biggest gripe I've heard was a lack of organization.

pre-registration really helps out with this
Not having to wait until someone types all the information into a database.
Also, run groups can be decided ahead of time, but be prepared if people don't show up, ie) if it rains.

Next is the course itself. If you have too hire someone to design and layout the course for you. You can have the best place available to you, but if the course isn't setup right, it won't matter.

Are you going to have run classes?
Are non-Corvettes going to run?
If so, what classes are they going to run in?
Will there be prizes/Trophies?

What about lunch?
With 3 run groups, you can allow people to go out on there own for lunch.
Some like to completely shut the event down and have a lunch/social hour.
Catering is a big help if you want to do that.

acrace

Not only "start on time", but I really appreciate it when the host club has the course all set up for walking when registration opens.