I had a ton of fun this weekend

[MikeP99Z]

I'm also not saying that I'm perfect or that every scenario can possibly be explained in class. I've missed flags before.

[MikeP99Z]

I'm willing to conduct a "refresher course" at the April event for all those involved in the AI/CMC group - including the veterans. Pick a time.

[AllZWay]

I'm willing to conduct a "refresher course" at the April event for all those involved in the AI/CMC group - including the veterans. Pick a time.

Hopefully... you will be working with me anyway. 8)

[MikeP99Z]

Aye I will James. Altering your mad dirt car driving skillz into asphalt-kicking prowess.

[AllZWay]

Aye I will James. Altering your mad dirt car driving skillz into asphalt-kicking prowess.

I actually think I was a pretty clean dirt track driver..... as far as dirt track driving goes of course. Although....you did see me that night.

[AI#97]

The more I think about what's written in this thread - the more pissed I'm becoming.

Classroom discussion/licensing day training/individual instruction - these can only take a person so far with regards to learning about how to race.

Taking what you learned in class onto the track, having a complete understanding of the rules, exercising good car control, AND making sound judgements while on the track are all part of being a professional.

I can't help you (and no classroom/training can) if you CHOOSE not to obey the flags, or if you make bad judgement calls. You are then subject to the scrutiny of your peers and the Race Director.

Mike, please don't take it personally. You ran a tight ship given the limited resources you had for instructor/student ratio compared to other schools so your instruction can only go so far as you pointed out. The difference is what we do AFTER school and what we do on track. That needs to be governed by race control....NO ONE ELSE.

Now in our defense, we need to ask that race control get their stories right. In R4, the story over the radio was that JG and I had collided and in reality were 100's of feet apart.....also that I had passed under a yellow flag....well, i have gone back and watched the video, and it isn't clear that there was a flag showing in rattlesnake.....but what it does show is that I wasn't passing but was being passed! Maybe in the thick of things and the close proximity of 10 cars on lap 3, the CW's couldn't tell for sure.

Overall point, what is in the past is done....let's learn from it, improve and move forward. somehow, we have to learn to type so it doesn't seem we are pointing fingers.....or if we are, then we need to nut up and come out and say what's on our minds. :lol:

[oz98cobra]

Mitch is not the only one that has heard this kind of talk about NASA TX events - it has been increasing at DEs and other gathering for the last six months.

If you want to look for a reason, then you could say it is 'growing pains' because the CMC/AI series grew rapidly so you've got a large field of rookies. But I also think that the 'system' could be improved - I do not feel that the way HPDE/Racecaft is being run right now is adequately preparing rookies for large field wheel to wheel racing series like CMC, Spec Miata. etc. I think that with the rate at which NASA TX is growing, Racecraft and competition licensing should be part of every event, complete with a couple of dedicated sessions each weekend - sessions where skills like side-by-side driving, can be learned.

But improving HPDE/Racecraft will only help drivers coming in in future - it isn't going to help us now - we have to help each other 'raise the standard'.

Is something being done differently now than was done in the past?

For the current AI/CMC drivers - I believe I made it very clear about this only being for trophies and the body shop not being a favorable option. Additionally, was nothing gathered from the comp licensing day that y'all participated in?

I'm taking some of the above comments personally - because these things were explained in class and I spent alot of time doing the classes and the comp licensing day. Additionally - situational awareness is something that is discussed repeatedly - look at my handouts.

People flat out ignoring flags is not something that I or any other instructor can help - you can only say it so many times - check the flag stations, check the flag stations.... It is part of your responsibility as a driver to read the flags.

Mike, Please don't take my comments personally - my apologies if my wording was poor and you misunderstood my point. Your leadership and classroom instruction was excellent!

To word this another way, one comp licensing day is not enough - and rookies are joining the series throughout the year without having had the benefit of one, hence my suggestion that it be incorporated into every weekend.

[oz98cobra]

I'll be in on any discussions/refreshers we do at the next event.

In the meantime, here is an exersize to try that can help with situational awareness - peripheral vision training - I found this in one of Ross Bentley's Speed Secrets books, and I do it often when I'm on the road.

When you're driving on the freeway, look straight ahead down the road with your eyes focuses on where you are going, and try to indentify detail in objects off to the side in the 80 to 90- degree peripheral vision - without actually looking at them. Try to indentify as much detail as possible - for example "a two story green house with a brown roof". If my wife is in the car, I say out loud what I'm seeing and she confirms the accuracy. At first, it will be harder than you think to actually identify detail, but after some practise, you can learn to develop a much greater awareness of what is in your peripheral vision. This will help you see me sooner when I'm passing you

[Todd Covini]

When I touched you in Big Bend, I thought I was gonna get my pee-pee severly whacked. If the discipline I was handed is indicative of discipline handed out, then there is no deterent.

When I saw what Richard Dickey did and how you guys handled it, that was what swayed me to come racing with you guys. That seems like a long time ago ...

If I were a newb looking at this series ... I'd probably still be running DEs ...

I step away from the board for a day and it takes two days to catch up!

#1- Discipline- Many folks were disenchanted with the penalties given for the contacts at the last event. i.e.- probations for anyone involved in contact. Hitter and Hittee. This is not the norm, nor will it be. A fellow racer passed away at the last event and to say that Race Central was a lit-tle busy to conduct IRB's for AI/CMC would be an understatement. On Sunday nite, it appeared that we would just not have the time to properly review each incident, in light of the bigger issues at hand. Rather than DO NOTHING...all of the incidents were carried over until the next event. i.e.- PROBATION. With a probation, it means if you get in another incident...we lump your previous contact into the IRB process and now review BOTH incidents to determine the proper CUMULATIVE penalty. (If you are found to not be at fault in the probation event, it won't carry much weight in your "new" incident. 100% at fault in the probation event and now 100% at fault in the "new" incident?? Double Trouble. So the discipline everyone was handed WAS NOT "indicative" at all, by any means. As someone said before...it was a mulligan due to the extraordinary circumstances...but don't expect too many of them!

#2- Richard Dickey was not handed his final penalty after one incident. Much to everyone's chagrin, it was after a handful of incidents and we weren't seeing any improvement. It's called progressive discipline. (Ironic how more than a few folks "asked" to be punished for their contact at the last event!) As Daron stated, we don't want to set ourselves up where the next guy who gets into someone is the "leper". We've seen it time and time again where the torch bearers today are tomorrow's leper. We have to think more long term and avoid the trends. In our racing, we do not have a system where "1 contact and you're out"...."2 wheels off and you're black flagged"...or "pass only on the straights after being acknowledged and pointed by". There's a place for that and most of us have been there. (I opentracked for many years...it's where I came from. 8) )

#3- Read the CCR regarding the "driver points system". We haven't had to worry too much about it in the past because folks weren't reaching their max point level to be concerned. With multiple contacts by a single person, we very well could see the driver points system imposed on folks very soon. 'nuff said.

#4- Mentor/Education/Discussion..they're all good. I'll bring my two 1:12th scale Exxon Tiger racecars to do a repeat of the "rules of the road" demonstration I did last year. (Most of the veterans weren't there, but it would help if they could be there this time.) This will be a great format for open discussion with CM and the others to build on.

#5- The 11 O'Clock News Perception- Yes, the other regions have seen our videos and some are coy-ly concerned. The videos are fast paced and edited for excitement...and for entertainment purposes. Like I've told some of the folks in other regions...that 13 minute video represented over 30 driver views over the course of 7 events, 24 races and at least 480 minutes of track time. (Pretty small snapshot to make an overarching opinion if you ask me.) FACT- Tonight I watched the video and recorded the # of contacts and # of off-road excursions in the 13 minutes of "MTV AI/CMC". The answer...7 contacts and 12 off tracks...that's it. (We had 7 (mostly) minor contacts and probably that many offtracks at our last event alone!!!) I'm not condoning them, just stating that the video comes off as chaotic to the uninformed, however, I bet the other regions have had 7 contacts and 12 off track excursions in a year. So, yes, as the series has grown, the contacts have unfortunately grown. It's great that we are self-checking that now and we'll look for progressive discipline, the driver points system and more dialog/discussion/education/mentoring/mutual respect to further keep things in check...but let's not let the "media" and "rumors" from those who weren't there dictate how we run the show.

I heard it somewhere before that going forward there's a "New Norm" in Texas...it's now up to us to make it happen.

-=- Todd

[TEXAST1]

I didn't originally read this post clearly. I am with Patterson. The original wording was a slam at Racecraft. Sounds like passing the buck. I do appreciate the corrections and positive feedback.

Guys need to take responsabilty for their own actions on the track. We can only do so much preparation and take you so far. Most of you obviously stopped listening sometime the first day and completely ignored the 2nd day. :roll: Learn by application and Seat time. There is no excuse for poor driving or not beaing aware of your enviroment.

I was using your race as a classroom session when several of you decided to blow by 3 yellow corner stations and Gran Torismo each other. We need to back to the basics. Warm-up and Cool-down we acknowledge each corner worker station so we know where each one is! ops: :wink:

Seriously, I am always available and accessible at the track and can either help with questions or show you.