>At 3:57 PM -0500 3/4/1999, Rocky Entriken wrote:
>>does not get handled at all. the crew in T&S would usually cheer to learn
>>the\
>>bozo who refused to fix a bad number just got DQ'd by the event steward. But
>>I've never heard of that happening.
>
>Why not just not time the jerk? "I'm sorry mister steward, there were so
>many cars out there I just couldn't get that one done... :-)"
>
>--
>pZ
>Paul Czarnecki
>Stop the FDIC's "Know Your Customer" rule: http://www.defendyourprivacy.com/
In my many years working T&S, expecially at Road America, we had a
multi-pronged strategy. We normally would assign an experienced T&S worker
to roam the paddock after each first practice session looking for the
drivers whose numbers were giving us trouble. We would tell them who we
were and why we were there. We would make very specific suggestions on how
to fix the problem, and even offer numbers that we would GIVE the driver if
that would help (generic black or white.) We tried to be very nice!
If that didn't work, we would request that the Chief Steward black flag the
car and talk to the driver. Since this meant they were losing time during
practice or qualifying, it usually worked very well. At one race where we
had a recalcitrant driver, we recorded his times but put him on the bottom
of the grid sheet with a note "no time". When asked we said we couldn't
list a time without a car number! (But we did keep the times, of course.)
When he presented a good car number, in the paddock or in the next session,
his times were listed in the correct spot.
In most formula Ford or Vee races, every lap of practice was used to
memorize cars and numbers so you knew that the fast orange car with the
number on the tail was 19 and the slower orange car with the number behind
the front wheel was 62! Even so, it wasn't always possible for all 5 tapers
at the finish line to get all the numbers in the right order in a closely
contested race. We could always get at least 3 to agree, however. It was
fun! And very challenging!
Lloyd Loring <lloydl@skyenet.net>
|