Now that I think about it, a radio for the starter and card-sorter might not
be such a bright idea, considering there's already enough radio chatter
going on with the pylon counter. I've worked the trailer jobs a few times,
and it does get very hectic in there, with the card sorter frantically
trying to figure out who's at the line and fishing out the card, while the
announcer is saying "Erin, give me a card already!!!!" and the pylon counter
is busy doing his/her thing, and the time recorder is saying "Sean, give me
a card already!". But seriously, when we have a veteran trailer crew, things
go pretty well and it really is a lot of fun to be in there (and it's warm
too)
Despite these tiny problems we had on sunday, we still managed to crank
through 280 drivers with 3 runs each (and a few re-runs) all in the span of
8 hours. That's an amazing feat alone! Bah, we've been doing that on a
regular basis anyway, with all those 250+ events we had last season, and I
might add, we even managed to pull that off at Golden Gate Fields without
the use of a PA system! SFR region really is amazing, isnt it? And then I
read that little article in the latest issue of SportsCar about SFR and it
really shows that we've got a good thing going here.
-Elbert
-----Original Message-----
From: Kelly, Katie [mailto:kkelly@spss.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 10:18 AM
To: 'Pilixx@aol.com'; dcolicch@ix.netcom.com; ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: Trailer crew in 3rd heat
Well, Pilar, all I can say is God bless you. Unfortunately, not all of us
have been around twenty years. We need a quick training program, and fast!
:)
What makes card sorting difficult, or just working in the trailer so
mentally demanding, is that you need to be able to improvise. To do that,
you have to trust the people you're working with. When everyone's relaxed,
it can ACTUALLY be a lot of fun. I've worked in there, and we were just
laughing our heads off. When you're trailer crew is having fun, everyone has
fun.
When you're brand new at it, it's probably a lot more common to feel a lot
of pressure. Things CAN get hectic, so it's a lot harder to relax. All I can
say to those who are now totally paranoid about working in the trailer,
DON'T be. Once you're around and you know the people you're working with,
you'll be more comfortable.
Regarding radios at the start, I'm with Kevin Stevens. I view this as a last
resort, when it's impossible to see who's there. It's the same reason why I
feel the smaller the trailer crew, the better. The more links you add to
communication, it becomes more like the game of telephone. The message
becomes more skewed and confused with each transmission.
Fortunately, now that we're all talking about this, I think we will see some
resolution. I'll bet you anything the next event will be fantastic.
Katie
-----Original Message-----
From: Pilixx@aol.com [mailto:Pilixx@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 9:07 PM
To: kkelly@spss.com; dcolicch@ix.netcom.com; ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Trailer crew in 3rd heat
Just a quick comment, the 4th run group should be 100% correct. While I
(card sorter) realized that Chris (grid master) was calling out the cars as
they went up to the line, I also realized that the cards I gave to the
announcer (don't know his name) had to be given at the right time. I don't
know if we had a starter in that group or not, but giving the radio to that
person would definitely be better. I know we were VERY short on workers for
the 4th group - it definitely helped having what seemed to be an experienced
group in the timing trailer (heck its almost 20 years for me!) and a lack of
hitting cones that helped us out.
Pilar
330i - with traction control that wouldn't turn off!
In a message dated 1/30/01 7:40:33 PM Pacific Standard Time, kkelly@spss.com
writes:
<< This wasn't just a problem for the third group, but for all the remaining
groups. Sometimes, the card sorter couldn't see who was there, so s/he'd
just guess. Or s/he would just neglect to even find the card. Sometimes
s/he'd go strictly by the radio, which was always wrong. That's the part I
don't get, but I SUSPECT it's because who ever was radioing in the car
numbers was going by who was being SENT to the line, versus who was AT the
line. Meaning there were three or four cars in front of the number
presently
being radioed in. I say this, because finally, in group six, I was watching
Vernon card sort. He was going by what was on the radio, and it NEVER
matched who was at the line. I saw this with my very own eyes. So, we
turned
off the radio, and did it solely by our own eyes, and suddenly everything
was all better.
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