Scott
I do not consider my letter to be negative, it simply points out events
that took place. The only thing I am looking for is the governing body
of the organization that we all pay membership fees to, to acknowledge
if there is a problem and keep us informed. I also wanted to post a copy
of the letter so that other attendees may write a letter as well if they
noticed any other discrepancies.
What I want is for the SCCA to be more communicative and not just sit in
the timing trailer. If the event gets thrown out - we have 4 more to get
points, and maybe another chance to advance further in the Super
Challenge.
KIM
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Troyer - TestEng TMR DDR [mailto:stroyer@micron.com]
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 3:22 PM
To: The Fine's
Cc: autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Timer Glitches in Atlanta
You know, I've seen two very negative posts on this now on team.net and
also
a discussion on SCCA forums. Do you have anything positive to say? Are
you
ready to offer any sort of solutions? What is it you want? Do you want
them to
throw the event out? If so then come out and say so (though I doubt
Larry minds
that 1st place finish in AS).
I am sure the National staff was doing their best in what looked to be
extremely
miserable conditions. If this brought out problems in the new timing
system then
it is good they are being found now and not later in the season. I'm
also sure
they are aware of the issues and are working at correcting any problems
before
the next event.
The results are still marked as unofficial so the national office may
not have decided
on the final solution to the issues. I think we should wait and see
what they are going
to do.
Scott Troyer
Snake River SCCA
Nampa, Idaho
The Fine's wrote:
Below is the letter I mailed this morning to Tasha and Howard:
February 20, 2004
Sports Car Club of America
P.O. Box 19400
Topeka, KS 66619
Attn: Tasha Goodale & Howard Duncan
Dear Tasha & Howard:
Just wanted to start by saying it was great to see the SCCA gang at this
weekend's event in Atlanta, unfortunately for us the weather soured the
social aspect of the weekend.
We feel the need to write this letter based on the numerous accounts of
strange timer glitches - for lack of a better description. We witnessed
several instances of what appeared to be in accurate times throughout
the event. From several vantage points, we watched competitor's cars in
relation to when each passed the finish line. The times reflected for
these cars, did not coincide with each respective car's position to one
another when they crossed the finish line. It was our understanding that
several other people witnessed the same thing we observed.
We specifically called this seemingly glaring timer error to your
attention, but were not really given any explanation. On Sunday morning,
Dennis Grant who informed us that he was in part responsible for
programming the new timing system approached us. He felt that for some
reason the timing system was running in "drag race mode" and that the
reaction times were not counted in the total time per run because the
timer was not starting with the green light but was actually starting
when a car broke the starting light beam.
Even if this was the case - why didn't the SCCA personnel make an
announcement to this effect? We all know that reaction times can
determine whether you win or lose a run. Dennis Grant's explanation made
sense to us for awhile, until we witnessed a few pairs of cars come
across the finish line so close it was hard to say who should have had
the faster time - however when the times were announced, one car was
timed ahead by approximately 2 full seconds. That's what made us really
start questioning the validity of times at this event.
When two cars start the timer together, it should not matter how far of
a distance they have to travel to finish, if they both finish and go
thru the timing lights at the same time, the times should be fairly
close. When two cars cross the finish line in almost a dead heat and yet
one car has been timed with a 2 second lead it appears most likely that
there is some form of timer error. If you do the math, based upon the
relative speed of the cars crossing the finish, which for example is 30
mph - in 2 seconds they would have traveled 88 feet. That distance is
certainly noticeable, and was not evident when we witnessed where the
cars finished in relation to one another.
This exact situation happened to Larry and Brian Garfield in the 2nd
round of the Super Challenge. They had very similar dial-in's, both in
the 7's on reaction times and very close at the finish. And yet the
timer tells us they were 2 seconds apart. Clearly there is an error
somewhere that potentially caused an improper result.
In closing, it does seem as though the SCCA has put some time, money,
and thought into the SOLO timing system for this year. However, we feel
that there was a problem at the Atlanta event and no one from the SCCA
staff addressed this to the competitors in any fashion. We hope that
when a logical solution is figured out that the competitors will be
notified.
Respectfully,
Kim & Larry Fine
#19 AS/ASL
P.S. On another subject, is there a reason why the SCCA schedules the
east coast events so early in the year? For one thing, Florida hotel
rates in February are brutal and then you have to wait around until May
for you next SCCA PRO/TOUR. And for the people who gear up to do the
full PRO series, why not start the season out with a TOUR so you can
work the bugs out of your car before going to a points event?
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