Attention ECHC Racers - an announcement about the start follows.

ANY contact at the start of the race, regardless of what kind of start we use, will result in AUTOMATIC PROBATION. *All* involved drivers will have used their first hit on 13-13. Any appeals to such a probation would likely be installed immediately in the trash can.

I don't care if the car stalls, I don't care if you get in somebody's fluid. That means you need to make sure you know how to drive stick, your car can stay running through the exit of turn 1, and you're not leaking any fluid.

I'm going to define the "start" as all cars having exited turn 1...and may ratchet it up to the entrance to turn 4. My call.

Consider this a measure to make sure our start, whether standing or rolling, is as clean and trouble free as it can be.

--Karl, a.k.a. "The Conduct ****"

 

Cobra - Who follows these threads in hopes that the info will carry over to Summit Point as well

 

shux... no parts pickup at #1 after the event.

Will
-who is glad that the rules are posted ahead of time.

 

theres always turn two

nick, who will be right there with will "scavenging" the ruins

 

Sure to be disappointing to those with F1 aspirations, but a wise decision.

 

I intend to enforce this at every race, at every track, regardless of standing or rolling starts. There's no excuse for bumper cars at lap one, turn one.

--Karl, who is usually a nice guy, except when it comes to dumb driving

 

Nice. Thanks Karl

 

yeap, I guess I better get the pole then

Good Call Karl

 

as long as your not in front of me tank boy

 

Tank boy got a big gun now.......

 

Good thought, but I think this *has* to be changed to say the responsible driver, not all involved. This isn't like that old elementary school teacher saying "It takes two to be a fight." It only takes one idiot to cause a wreck. If somebody brakes at the appropriate place, and the tool behind them runs straight into the back of them, it's wrong to put the driver of the front car on 13/13. Great idea, but let's apply it only to those at fault.

Matt

 

:raises hand:

Oh oh oh ooooooooooohhhh!!!!

I got dibs on worker station @ T1

 

True Dat!

 

I'm sure all this "picking up the parts in turn 1" **** is all done most humourously, but it's really starting to **** me off. How about we stop it. M'kay?

If carnage does occur, I'll look for you jackholes to be out there picking up parts.

Scott, who, with Karl, has done everything he can think of to create a series that doesn't have carnage in turn 1, and doesn't really appreciate the jackass comments from the cheap seats.

 

cheap seats?
jackass?
nice going 'Co-Director'

the coments 'were' in a humourous context but now they are not.

by letting drivers know that the 'pieces' would be picked up... one would hope that the drivers would take extra caution on the first few laps...

Will
-who prefers jacknob vs. jackass/jackhole

 

excellent words from the promotor of a semi-professional race series. Unless you are a complete dimwit, it was very apparent that Will as well as myself were only kidding. I for one have numerous friends in the series, or aspiring to be, and the last thing I would want to see happen is any of them get hurt.

Lighten up, and try to refrain from calling names on a site that is trying to promote the birth of your series. Your well thought out commentary makes me very eager to join another race organization in the future, and it sure as hell wont be N.A.S.A. They show their respective "***" on this board far more often than any other respected series' combined. Thanks for reasuring me that I made the right choice by not participating this year.

-Nick Tomlinson

 

Craig - who goes looking for his nomex suit

 

Competition
Discussion of modifications, tuning, and driving techniques, autocross, road racing, drag racing and a place to pick fights when the Kills Forum is full and you just can't get that account working on CornerCarvers.


Scott and Karl - you guys kick *** and you put up with a hell of a lot of **** with no real reward. Thanks, the first Sammy's are on me!

 

I second that. What people tend to not realize is that this is the make-it or break-it year for this series. It is all for fun but we need to keep it serious so that carnage doesn't occur. I too don't see much humor in jokes related to drivers and friends crashing. I am not sure I would hit the subject head on because it was all in jest however I am not so sure it is appropriate now that the first race is just 3 days away. I know that if I was racing at CMP the comments would bother me and get me thinking about things way more than what is healthy.

Cobra - Who doesn't like seeing people on the same side fighting

 

Alright you guys, you need to lighten up on Scott. It's 2.5 days from the season start. Scott probably has a little stress going on right now with the 3 bazillion details he and Karl are dealing with. There is bound to be some short fuses at this time. I AM one of the drivers this weekend. I found the comments about the parts in turn one in poor taste. Sorta reminded me of why "some" spectators go to races. So they can see some carnage. If I suspect before the race that ANYONE intended to pull a kamikazi run into turn one, I will simply show up to grid late and start dead last. It's not worth the risk. If any of you folks find humor in this thread I would be happy to strap you in my car and see how long that silly *** grin lasts.

Dave S. - He's ... He's .... Bringing .... a ..... 2002 RSX-S........

 

Whether intended in jest or not, comments about people wrecking each other at this weekends race are COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE. Period. Both of you guys are showing a complete lack of any sort of grasp of what's about to happen. And a complete lack of maturity and respect for those who are about to grid and race, many for the first time ever.

And, I am the volunteer co-director of an amatuer race series. I am not a compensated officer representing any organization but the non-profit, just for fun East Coast Honda Challenge. If you act like a jackass, it is my every right to call you one. I chose to do so.

If you want to "support," find yourself on the grid reassuring a group of nervous assed drivers who are about to go into a very dangerous competition with, in most cases, their friends. Lots of pats on the backs and thumbs ups... not jokes about trashing damned cars in turn one. Again, that is hugely immature and inappropriate and there is no place ANYWHERE for it.

Scott, who will be shaking his competitors hands and wishing them luck on the grid. Anybody talking **** about crashes and mangled cars, jokingly or not, will be quickly asked to leave.

 

Dude, you hit a nerve, get over it. I tried to give everybody the hint with my post earlier pointing out that none of you had done a standing start, and that you should wait until after the race to comment. You don't think Scott and Karl aren't thinking about this about 20 hours a day? They are nervous, I am nervous, we (the racers) are nervous. None of us want to hear you joking about us wrecking our cars, in jest or not. Instead of writing this post, you should have just risen above it and said, "I didn't realize it was a sore point, I'm sorry."

and no other group has half the presence on this board as NASA. We have about 75% of the ECHC drivers here, the VA director, the VA race director, the VA registrar, the former VA director - and at the current time, none of those people in authority positions are running hondas (thanks to the Politis for not having their's done so I could make this point). What does that tell you? This board *IS* NASA VA. What you just said is like going to an old IROC race and saying the Camaro drivers are causing more wrecks than any other make!

Yes, because it would REALLY suck to race in a group that is so concerned about the safety of their drivers that they got emotional when people joke to the contrary. If you feel otherwise, perhaps it is the ECHC that is better off without you? Just a thought...

Matt


[Modified by speedracer33, 10:01 PM 4/17/2002]

 

Well here we go...

Was the word 'wrecking' ever used?
Side view mirrors, front splitters, bumper skins, and other items may very well find there way to the side of track this weekend (in any run group). If you think it is never going to happen… you are kidding yourself.
I do not, no will I, wish any ill will upon any racer in any series… everyone should know that.
My comment (I am allowed to make one) about picking up 'pieces' was a poor attempt at levity to help ease the otherwise 'business like' atmosphere of the weekend. The weekend’s tension has me on edge and a little humorous view (I thought) might have helped.
But since no one on this board has any humor (would a APC joke been better?) at all… I guess I get blasted for ‘cursing’ each and every one of the drivers.

Sounds fine with me... but there was no jackassery in the above posts nor will there be any this weekend.

Nervous drivers = mistakes
Since I can't drive the car for those who are on the grid.... I can only sit back and enjoy the race.

Was 'trashing cars' ever used? Giving the drivers a glimpse into the bad side of racing may not be such a bad thing..... fenders and paint are not cheap. Knowing that you may loose a bumper skin or some metal off of your car should be more than enough reason to dial it back... but we all know that won't happen.

Again... Was 'crashes' and/or 'mangled' cars ever used?

William
-who will be at the track trying to find a daily schedule

 

Will

Brian

 

*Disclaimer*: I don't participate in ECHC nor plan to unless someone offers me a ride for quite a while.

That being said, I HAVE been in highly competative wheel-to-wheel racing for the past 11 years, so hopefully I can make a comment here that will be taken for what it is.

Amatuer racing is, and is supposed to be, fun. Nobody wants to destroy their car for any reason, especially when the driver is the owner and they're footing their own bill. However, everyone wants to win, and because of that, especially in the first race of the season with possibly new people and new equipment, there are going to be bad decisions and mistakes that end up with some creased fenders. I understand that this is meant to be a low-budget racing series and that participants can't afford new body work, suspension peices and wheels just because it's easier to take someone out than to pass them clean.

Turn 1 is always a trouble spot in any racing series. Period. Standing starts won't solve this. Rolling starts won't solve this. Single file starts won't solve this. The reason turn one is always a trouble spot is largely due to inexperience on the part of someone back in the field or over-confidence on the part of someone skilled perhaps farther up in the field. I've seen it hundreds of times, there's a gap to the inside of the person in front, so they dive for it, only to realize there's this thing called "apexing" that the passer had a brain fart and forgot all about. The result, the passer has to hit the brakes, develops a bad push [funny how that works...] and the passee is faced with a window full of bumper and has to decide the best course of action. Most of the time, but not always, there is contact, and time is lost without much else. Other times both parties are done for the event, having not even made it to turn #2.

Placing blame on both parties, while seemingly a good idea, actually turns out to be more of a punishment to drivers driving good lines that have idiots either ahead of or behind them. I agree that in a series such as this there should be punishment for lapses in judgement, but it needs to be handled on a case-by-case basis [IMHO], possibly even recorded by corner workers on video if feasible. I just don't see how making a rule that is very "anti-competative" towards opening lap screw-ups and aggressive wheel-to-wheel driving is going to help bring good racing and a competative feeling to what should be a "racing series".

Racing is expensive, believe me, I know. However, there are differences between incidental and intentional contact, and they should be treated differently, of course paying more attention to the drivers that seem apt at making more than a few "incidental" maneuvers.

I race because it's fun, and I'm good at it which makes me feel good. The time when I have to worry more about what everyone else is doing to make sure I don't pressure too hard or don't get pressured too hard in turn one under penalty of probation, than I have to worry about driving a good race and enjoying myself, is the day I hang it up.

Ok, I'm done now, you can go back to flaming each other...

-Harry