Ideas for improving the lives of corner workers...

[Snowman]

There has been concern about the Saturday Race Day Schedule taking too long. I believe it has become too tight and any disruptions (red flags) will easily send us past the 5pm finish time we are looking for. We have had days that have lasted as late as 7:00pm. This isn’t easy on any one, Racers, Spectators, Super Streeters or Board Members. But the people we should be most concerned about are the corner workers.

We should take a look at this Schedule from a corner worker point of view. At minimum they are dealing with an 11 hour day. Between driving to the track to be there by 7:30am and not leaving the track until after 5:00pm (or later) then drive an hour home. And for this they get $50.00 and lunch for 11 or 12 hour day.

After working as a corner worker for a year I know the issues they are facing. And since we have added Super Street I think we need to take another look from over the past 2 seasons and make a few changes to try and help.

1. I would like to propose that we schedule in a 5 min break every hour to allow corner workers to sit down, go to the bathroom, get things like water transported out to them etc… Currently there is a 15 min break between the endurance races that can be used for this in the afternoon on Saturday. Other adjustment can be made to make this work.

2. I proposed we remove one set of Saturday morning practice sessions shorting the Saturday schedule by an hour and start races around 10:15am. I understand how racers want time on the track but padding an hour to ensure we can get Super Street gets done by 5pm or earlier.

3. I proposed we move LW / MW Endurance to just before lunch on Saturday and have HW / Open Endurance just after lunch. These are the longest races we have. Corner workers have to stand a min of 30 for each of these. Having them earlier in the day means cooler conditions than standing in the afternoon sun and having lunch between them means it gives corner worker a large break between them.

Of course these are just my opinions and I welcome and comments or any other ideas (especially from any corner workers out there) that you guys might have.

Thanks

[Bueller999]

An idea I heard from someone that sounded really good was a $10 surcharge to be able to pay these people an attractive wage. We need to do something to keep them coming to work the races. Without them we don't race.

[powers]

Early in the season and before I actually did a full weekend, I thought just make the racers corner work in their downtime. The SCCA splits the day into two large heats of multiple classes. If you race in the AM, you work the PM, etc. I see that as less of an option for us if you take into account some people race many different classes and more prep time to race (leathers, tires, crash damage, etc.) than a car.

The biggest annoyance with the worker swap was the time it took to get everyone to their corner. We have far fewer corner workers during a race than the SCCA, but our workers definitely have to know and do more. Ultimately, the turnaround with swapping corner works would probably make the day longer - the exact thing Snowman wants to avoid.

I like idea #1, but it risks bogging down the schedule if they have to leave their corner and come back. With enough vehicles (dirt bikes and 4 wheelers) it might be possible? I always get nervous when the support vehicles cross from grass to pavement as they might bring debris on the track? Maybe that is a novice worry or justified?

Maybe look more at the racers that don't do the $250 race-your-ass-off deal. You would have to take into account they might only race one day. Charge them more for each race, but treat it like novice hours - if you work you get the "surcharge" back? Maybe too much management overhead there?

Just some ideas from a novice after a few weekends at the track ;)

[Snowman]

I use to race Solo II with the SCCA and the Driver for Corner Worker swapping was ale to work there, given how strict the classes were. However in the MRA you can run a single bike in several classes all over the schedule. Getting this aligned so racers could both work corners and race would be difficult at best.

However I do agree our Corner Workers are under paid. A surcharge would not be a unreasonable request given how low entry fees are in this club compared to some others. But even doubling what they get now I don’t think will make it that much better.

I do think the working conditions need to be address as well. Saturdays are just too long and these guys can be standing out there for up to 3 hours straight. I think we need to take a serous look at this side of the issue.

[Jon]

Back when I started racing with the MRA there was only one day of racing with Saturdays being a practice day. Maybe what's needed is to go back to that, up the fee for practice, get rid of some classes and pay the corner workers what they're worth.
Pitch it to the board and they can decide once they've gotten input from the membership. I know one of the reasons it's gone to a two day schedule is attempting to shorten the day on Sunday but with the multitude of additional classes and Crashes and Superstreet as well we've managed to make both days extreamly long for you guys. I hope the racers and etc. helped sweeten the pot this weekend and florished you guys with gifts, cash and etc. [/code]

[The GECCO]

Early in the season and before I actually did a full weekend, I thought just make the racers corner work in their downtime. The SCCA splits the day into two large heats of multiple classes. If you race in the AM, you work the PM, etc. I see that as less of an option for us if you take into account some people race many different classes and more prep time to race (leathers, tires, crash damage, etc.) than a car.
;)

The SCCA in Colorado does not do this (at least roadracing doesn't, autocross may but it's been a long time since I attended one of those). None of their drivers work, they have non-racing workers like the MRA does. It bears mentioning, though, that their workers are unpaid volunteers, and they never seem to have trouble getting 20-30 to people to show up, and I actually remember one event that had 63. I'm not sure exactly how they're doing it, but they're doing something right!

Either way, I think taking at least and hour out of the Saturday morning practice is a good place to start.

[rforsythe]

I'm a proponent of moving at least one endurance race earlier in the day in general, so if it helps ease the lives of the folks in the painter pants, then even better. That will require juggling the rest of the schedule however, since you don't want to have a sprint race bump right up against the corresponding endurance class.

An argument against that however is that some people do just race endurance for practice, and if we moved it earlier they might not want to get "spent" before a later sprint race they'd be taking more seriously. Arguments either way.

[Snowman]

That is true, many do use Endurance races for practice. And with the $250.00 race your ass off deal, adding it for most to cover the missing 3rd practice would be free or nearly free.

[The GECCO]

Sort of related, but more to the point of the schedule as a whole - what about some policies regarding red flags such as:

1) Institute a "2 red flag" policy. If a race is stopped for a second red flag it is either considered complete, or is simply canceled for that event.

2) Similarly, if a red flag situation takes more than a certain amount of time to clear (30 minutes?) due to excessive cleanup or injury, then that race is likewise considered complete or canceled. Additionally, such a situation might automatically trigger a one or two lap reduction in the length of all of the remaining races for that day.

This may seem a little harsh to those that have no control over the things that would cause their race to be canceled or shortened, but at some point the focus has to be on keeping the show moving.

Food for thought.

[Throttleroller277]

I'm a proponent of moving at least one endurance race earlier in the day in general, so if it helps ease the lives of the folks in the painter pants, then even better. That will require juggling the rest of the schedule however, since you don't want to have a sprint race bump right up against the corresponding endurance class.

An argument against that however is that some people do just race endurance for practice, and if we moved it earlier they might not want to get "spent" before a later sprint race they'd be taking more seriously. Arguments either way.

One problem with moving an Endurance earlier in the day, is that Endurance is basically Amateur Rules, not Supersport. So a rider that is in Middleweight, Heavyweight, or Open Supersport classes, that may run Superbike wheels and/or tires in Endurance, is now put in a time crunch to swap things back and forth, or forced to make the choice to stay with one set up.

Just some more food for thought......

[nobasin]

That is true, many do use Endurance races for practice. And with the $250.00 race your ass off deal, adding it for most to cover the missing 3rd practice would be free or nearly free.

i'd suggest that there are a lot more people in endurance who are actually "racing" and not practicing. the issue of using endurance as a practice session has come up before on these forums and the majority of us who actually race in endurance and not use it just for track time pretty universally don't want more people in the grids who are just practicing. endurance grids are big enough already, and get crazy busy at a track like ppir without adding people who are experimenting with lines or just pussyfooting around to get practice time. that creates a dangerous situation for endurance on an already very crowded grid with huge differences in both rider skills and bike speeds and intentions.

i'm all for finding ways to encourage more corner worker participation, but eliminating a practice session and then just telling people to practice in endurance is not the solution imho.

mike-

[polar x]

i'm all for finding ways to encourage more corner worker participation, but eliminating a practice session and then just telling people to practice in endurance is not the solution imho.

mike-

I dont think anyone is saying cut a practice session and move them into a endurance race. Just that some use endurance as cheap track time.
I for one race both endurance's and only do sprints because of the $250 cost. I take endurance seriously and dont mind if its split. But you have to give us time to change tires from the sprints and not be rushed into it. Its hard enough to run sprints on 2 bikes, swap tires and gas, pee and then race 2 endurances. Dont sacrifice the endurance group for a slightly shorter day.

I do like the idea of a red flag rule. It has merit. I also dont see an issue reducing 1 practice session so that it is just like Sundays. combined, they may shorten the day without hurting the riders who run back to backs.

[nobasin]

I also dont see an issue reducing 1 practice session so that it is just like Sundays. combined, they may shorten the day without hurting the riders who run back to backs.

another idea could be to make all practice sessions 15 minutes. that gains what, 40 minutes right there because nov slow/med, nov fast, expert slow/med, expert fast in the first 2 sessions are 20 minutes each. take 5 min from the fast sessions too, and there's an hour of time gained while still allowing everybody 3 decent practice sessions on sat.

[Throttleroller277]

I also dont see an issue reducing 1 practice session so that it is just like Sundays. combined, they may shorten the day without hurting the riders who run back to backs.

another idea could be to make all practice sessions 15 minutes. that gains what, 40 minutes right there because nov slow/med, nov fast, expert slow/med, expert fast in the first 2 sessions are 20 minutes each. take 5 min from the fast sessions too, and there's an hour of time gained while still allowing everybody 3 decent practice sessions on sat.

So while running at the full track at HPR, for those that are running 2 min lap times or more, would get only 7 laps or less....That is "if" you were at pre-grid at 3rd call, and went to the checkered flag.

[nobasin]

So while running at the full track at HPR, for those that are running 2 min lap times or more, would get only 7 laps or less....That is "if" you were at pre-grid at 3rd call, and went to the checkered flag.

true, so probably not the best solution. but if we only have 2 practice sessions, even 20 min each, you still get less laps of practice that way than 3 15 min practices.

personally i don't think we should change anything in the sat schedule and we should find a way to compensate the corner workers better for their time rather than sacrifice racer's track time on saturday. i would be all for a $10 surcharge on race fees to compensate them better, even if race fees go up a bit independent of that.

[KFinn]

How about a little bit of a few ideas together?

How about a surcharge,
Move one race to Sunday's schedule and finally
have a 2 red flag rule where the race is called and they have to either finish as it stands or their race gets bumped to Sunday?

Then we all keep our practice time, we all keep our current amount of classes and we are all held to a standard of decent racers judgement within reason. Let's face it, racing incidents happen, its part of the sport and the wonderful support staff is why we are able to push the limits a bit to learn. But again, all within reason. take small bites, not a plateful in a single turn.

just my .02

[AdamandNoahsdad]

Brad Hendry was telling me about how they do the corner worker thing in enduro races. He mentioned something about how everyone has to skip one race of the season and corner work. If everyone does it the year end points work out the same. I know that would be tough with only 7 rounds but it is an idea to help get more riders involved with running things like the SCCA does. Just throwing out another idea. I'm curious, after looking at how many novices hadn't completed their novice hours, would people rather just pay more money or work to help out the club?