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Mandatory Driver's Meeting |
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George shares the following information from the Fun Ford Weekend procedure manual, and offers some very important advice to racers everywhere - Editor Gather ‘round, racers. It's time for our mandatory driver's meeting. First, let's talk about the starting line area. This is restricted space and everybody that goes into the burnout or starting line area absolutely must be wearing an arm band, and of course, that includes the driver. Next, let's remember that the total number of crewmembers permitted in this area is limited to three or four crew members. That's it. And it should go without saying that no children under 16 are allowed to be in this area. Next, once your car has run, your crew must leave the area and make it available for the next guy's crewmembers. We know that you want to watch the rest of the cars run, but you are going to have to move behind the track's safety line first. OK, let's talk about staging. Please be respectful of your competitor. Don't hang him out to dry and don't try to burn him down. No games here. If you hang back after you have lit your pre-stage light and the other guy lights both of his, you will be DQ'd, unless it's obvious that your car is inching forward. This will be the starter's call. It's his thumb on the button and his decision will be final. Next, if you want to try “something different” from your normal staging routine, make sure you notify one of the guys at the head of staging, who in turn will notify the tower. The tower will then notify the starter so he can send you on a single run, and not hold up another competitor in the other lane. Remember, the spectators (the paying customers) want to see “a show” and cars making single passes aren't much of a show, so we want to run cars in pairs when at all possible. And just a reminder, if you experience any handling problems during your run, make sure you don't screw up our schedule by crashing into the wall. If the car gets squirrelly, get out of it and save the car for another run. We know that all of you guys are great drivers and that you just want to demonstrate that you can “bring it back from the brink of calamity”,but hey, that run is over with anyway and we don't want to spend time waiting for the roll-back truck to take what's left of your car off the track or sweeping up what's left of your car and throwing the little pieces over the guard rail. If you have an engine or transmission “problem,” stop as quickly and as safely as you can and pull over to the guard rail, if at all possible. That will keep the track clean-up crew from holding up the program. We'll come and get you and take you off the track. Let's keep the black slippery stuff from getting on the center of the track if we can. Another thing to remember while we are on the subject of liquid getting on the track is radiator coolant. Anti-Freeze or other types of coolants are a big no-no. This stuff is almost impossible to remove from the racing surface. About the only thing that we will allow in your radiator is a 50-50 mix of water and more water. Should you be unfortunate enough to have a coolant leak, and anything dribbles out that is colored “green,” “yellow” or any other color that is not “clear,” you will be politely told to “put it in the box and take it home”. After you have made your run and make the turn-off at the end of the track, let your car coast until it stops on its own, off to the side of the return road. There are usually a bunch of cars in the turn-off area and we want everybody to have as much room as possible and not be running over each others parachutes or driving up over the top of someone else's spoiler. Remember that there are other cars coming down the track behind you and we want them to have room to get out of the way, too. This brings up another important thing. Do not, under any circumstances, drive back on the return road with your parachute dragging behind your car. This can be very dangerous because the damn thing can inflate and catch somebody else's wheelie bars, spoiler, or even accidentally pick up some small kid or even a big kid. It's one thing to have a problem during a run, but it's quite another to do something stupid on the return road, and driving down the return road with the ‘chute inflated will get you DQ'd for sure. And while we are on the subject of driving back to the pit area, remember this: The pit area can be a very busy and dangerous place, with racers moving up to the lanes and with spectators wandering around not paying attention to the traffic. This includes spectators with little kids. Use your head when driving in the pits. With all the noise and activity going on, don't necessarily think that people will automatically get out of your way just because you are driving a race car. Try not to run over too many spectators if possible. If the ambulance has to pick up the fresh meat and make a hospital run, it just slows down the show. And finally, make sure that your crew knows that the people riding on your ATV or golf cart during the vehicle retrieval process must be sitting in a seat, and that doesn't mean riding on the handle bars or on the rear cargo tie-down area. If there are only seats for two, the third guy (or gal) may cost you a DQ. That goes for speeding, too. We know that the turn-off area is a half-mile from the starting line, but it's only going to take a couple of minutes to get there, so don't let your crew drive those things as if they were trying to qualify for an off-road Supercross event. We are going to be cracking down on this big time. Other than that, have a great weekend and good luck to everybody.
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