At one point on Friday 4th Heat on the North Course (SSL/AS/APL), during
one of the sweep truck breaks, Corner 3 called in to Control, somewhat
pleadingly, "Could you maybe have the starter space the cars out just a
little bit more? We've got 2 cars in different parts of our section at
the same time and it's hard to watch both ways AND get the cones." Since
the people in T&S (and the announcer) were all basically panting, trying to
catch our breath, we readily agreed. During that segment, the interval
tightened from 20 seconds to about 15 seconds between cars, and an
experienced T&S crew (Sharon Shields on Control, Patty Tunnell writing
times, and someone whose name currently escapes me but who I know drove
really well in ASL or ASPL on the computer) was in Full Scramble Mode
keeping up. Announcer Guy (that would be me) had just about enough time to
say car number, class, time, penalty, and maybe the driver's name. We went
back to 20 seconds, and amazingly enough, things were remarkably easier to
keep up with, both on the course and in the T&S truck.
I was surprised at how smoothly it all ran, though. During the two heats I
announced (4th/5th ThurS/FriN, SSL,/AS/APL, ASP/EPL/FP/AML/F125L) we had a
few reruns, none that I can recall due to course-stoppages (red flags,
cones out of place, workers on the course), but instead due to false timer
trips (usually start trips) that we didn't notice in time to catch. We
could usually catch the false finish trips and reset in time to not lose a
time. And before anyone gets on JACircuits, I'd wager 95% of the false
trips were due to debris blowing through the beams. It didn't have to be
paper, either, as enough of a sand cloud could obscure the beam enough to
trip the photocell. There was a LOT of wind in TotoLand this year.
Jim "Presented Trophies In A Nearly Empty Room" Crider
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