Barona's Lesson Learned

[wickedstangs]

Barona's Lesson Learned

All, we had a great event even though this was our first some say we did a good job and others are still mad.. Whatever the case I have been receiving lots of good feedback that we will consider at our next event. Make sure to attend our meeting so we can have everyone's inputs to our next event. Best of all thanks for all the new members that are checking out what Wicked Stangs is all about. We welcome you to the site.

Just sent this email to Rick (track coordinator) @ Barona..............................He sent me an email asking me how everything went seeing as how I didn't get a chance to meet him yesterday. Here was my reply.....................



I looked for you in the booth, but you weren't there. I did see your car run though, it's badass!! I was driving the orange and black mustang coupe. Anyway all of us had a blast!! Our forum is going crazy talking about the event. We only had 2 small complaints..........(1.) is that we intended to race other brands, but none really showed up. I think the weather had alot of people up in arms and decided not to go. (2.) We were under the impression that it was a test & Tune only day. Since the Summit series had priority alot were upset at the limited amount of runs they got in and the down time in between.

Most of us got in at least 5 runs and everyone is super happy otherwise. Alot of first time racers from the club came out and got hooked real quick!!! They all can't wait until the next one. They are all wanting to do this about every 6 months. We brought out 26 cars for racing and many more spectators. We have the potential to bring some good business your way. Maybe we can get a hook up on track rental??

We would like to set up another day as soon as we can and give the guys a few months notice so they can get thier cars ready. Let me know if you have an open date in May or June for us to be a real "FEATURE" event and we won't dissappoint!! Rick once again huge thanks from all of us at wickedstangs and hope to be seeing alot more of Barona in the future. Thanks again and let me know,

Bobby Amato
Wickedstangs Track Coordinator
619-672-7495

Just a few ideas for the next Barona Event:

1) We need to shoot off the 7's first, the 8's and then run the 9's and 10's. Reason being, the one guy in the Blue Mustang running the 7's was a little reluctant to be "Hot Lapping" his car. It also gives the 7's a little down time to cool off, along with the 8's

2) Instead of having an actual Bracket for each Class, just line them up. That would make it much easier to get the larger Classes paired up in the Staging lanes. Trying to get a certain car lined up against each other wa a little painfull.

3)Drivers stay with your car please! Alicia and I almost had to DQ two cars because the drivers left the staging lanes to go watch the races. You either race or spectate, there is no both. Sorry if that came out very blunt!

4) Can we talk to Barona about an actual Bracket race? Get two runs down the track and pick your time. This would then be put on the windshield and side window. Once the cars roll in, the times are put into the computer for different staging lights. So if a 10 lines up on a 8, the 10 get's a head start. I am not sure if Barona does this.

I agree with your comment that we need radios!!

All in all, I was impressed with how smooth things went for the first Event at the track!!! If you need any help with the next Event, please feel free to ask!

I have a little bit of experience in this area, and I'd make two suggestions:

First, you might consider doing "run cards" for the cars competing in the event, and mix them in with the regular T&T lanes so that there's less waiting around.

Second, how about a "king of the hill" at the end between all the winners of the various indexes? The breakout's already being plugged into the timing system, so the handicapped tree is not a problem. 9.90 vs 6.90, 8.90 vs 7.90, and the winners advance to determine the overall event winner.

 

[Mustangcwo]

All of the inputs are appreciated. If you have any other good ideas, post them here for consideration. Like the Prez stated, "Great event for the first time"...now lets make it better each time. This is the number one club in the country without all the bull****, thanks to all of you.

 

[HisPony]

Sorry, I will be out of town for the next meeting.

I know more about track ettiquite(sp) and staging procedures. Helping individuals get down the track I have very little experience.


EDIT: When we do a Sportsman Race again, a Class Time somewhere on the car would alliviate any confusion for which class they are in.

 

[Gibs]

Well radios would help alot. Drivers staying with the car will help alot too.

I think writing the class on the car will help too.

I will have more after I poll my experts panel.....LOL



Gib

 

[wickedstangs]

good ones.. Noted..

 

[GT400SC]

Live and learn.

But you have to say, given the minor hiccups, this went off REAL well!

 

[HisPony]

Live and learn.

But you have to say, given the minor hiccups, this went off REAL well!

No kidding!!

I have seen races that were 4 or 5 years old that didn't go off like WS' first one did.


Jack

 

[Gibs]

Thats because we have SOUL BABY!!!!!! oh wait....sorry. We dont let a few hiccups get in the way, just keep rolling........

On to my next LL........

Get the word out a little earlier to other clubs.
Make a Registration form for the to fill out....doesnt have to be real fancy but needs to have the club they belong to, name, address, email, and screen name on there to contact them for our next event.....Basically so we can build a huge database for future events and stuff.


Gib

 

[sdsubzero4]

If you have good, hard working, dedicated people organizing and getting people where they belong, this is the result. Good results!

 

[Paul Huizenga]

Getting the pairs together can be a pain, for sure. Give me enough advanced notice for the next one, and I'll get a couple of my friends who have done it before with Jr. Dragsters and down at Qualcomm to come out and handle it all.

As far as avoiding hot-lapping the faster cars, it takes some practice to get it working right. Generally, you want to run fast-to-slow in the first round, then play it by ear depending on how many cars are in each class.

 

[Misled20]

as soon as we get word i can post on Need2speed.com california section and SDrev.com and get some of the GM and Import crowds to come out

 

[wickedstangs]

Getting the pairs together can be a pain, for sure. Give me enough advanced notice for the next one, and I'll get a couple of my friends who have done it before with Jr. Dragsters and down at Qualcomm to come out and handle it all.

As far as avoiding hot-lapping the faster cars, it takes some practice to get it working right. Generally, you want to run fast-to-slow in the first round, then play it by ear depending on how many cars are in each class.

Good One..

as soon as we get word i can post on Need2speed.com california section and SDrev.com and get some of the GM and Import crowds to come out

Sounds good...

 

[VP_07SRT8]

greta input everyone way to keep moving fwd

 

[Tommy]

This is the reason why I don't even spend time with other fourms. As I mentioned before, this group truly shows a tight "brotherhood". One individual can't possibly pull this off. It took a group to work in sync as in an orchestra....to end up with 'good music'. And on Sunday, those Stangs racing down the srtip sounded like sweet music!!!

 

[sdsubzero4]

Misled and Paul, thanks for your inputs. Its great to have people on here willing to get their hands dirty and get involve. This is how and what it takes to improve on anything and hopefully this event will only get bigger. And looks like its headed in the right direction with everyone's help.

 

[Paul Huizenga]

Having seen my share of first-timers have trouble at the dragstrip (present company excluded, of course!), you might also consider a track rental or scheduled trip to a test & tune day specifically for new racers. That way, they'd have a chance to learn stuff like what to expect in tech, track procedures, doing a good burnout, reading the starting line/groove, staging (and courtesy staging!), down-track safety, and how bracket racing works in a no-pressure environment. I'm sure that Barona would be happy to help set that up, since more new customers (especially ones who don't pull all the way up to the tree like it was a stop sign) are always good...

 

[blackstallion06]

Paul there is a test and tune before our race where they could go and watch. I plan on going if I dont have duty. It would be pretty easy for a vet racer to show them a few tricks and give them some no how. Just a suggestion..

If anyone is unsure or has questions about staging, burn outs ect, I will be more than happy to give you advice.
I want to make sure everyone has a good time and expirence.

 

[Paul Huizenga]

Holy necropost, Batman! :-P

 

[spdpilot]

Paul there is a test and tune before our race where they could go and watch. I plan on going if I dont have duty. It would be pretty easy for a vet racer to show them a few tricks and give them some no how. Just a suggestion..

If anyone is unsure or has questions about staging, burn outs ect, I will be more than happy to give you advice.
I want to make sure everyone has a good time and expirence.

Will you let me drive your car to learn?