again… it’s not the price point. At least for myself & a few others I know of…
I’d gladly pay more then $30, as evidenced, if it weren’t for my other concerns.
Dunville and TMP are both contributing reasnons. TMP also has a drag strip and is very clean. they are way more expensive however the experience is worth it.
that sucked balls for him…Jay is right too…I know we need workers, but it sucks sometimes…
I should try that. You’ve been kicking ass this year!
Huh? :gotme:
I have instructed and know many of the other instructors out there and would consider them to be some of the best local drivers. Dale, Cory, Bruce/Brett J., Dave/Mike P. etc I think most of the people instructing are typically top 10 on the day
No, we are the safety stewards, registration, timing, instructors, “jump in where we need people” people. You remember what a PITA doing safety can be sometimes. And there are some “old timers” that we don’t let do regular work assignments for one reason or another.
I just don’t want people thinking that there are some of us that are exempt from working. We all do our share, it’s the only way that the event works.
Except me…but I suck at life sometimes.
I understand how much work the regulars put in, I was one of them for a while doing timing until the chaos of the truck made me hate going, then safety. You’re asking why noobs aren’t sticking around and making the case that the all day event is great because you get to socialize with a bunch of car guys though. Step back and look at the day a typical noob has and you’ll see the all day event isn’t a whole lot of socializing, it’s a lot of working on course and sitting in grid.
We might actually be onto something here. WNY prides itself on running like a well tuned machine, cranking out more runs in less time than many other regions. At first glance that might seem great, but maybe you’re running things so fast people aren’t enjoying the run/work/run/work/run/work cycle with little to no downtime in between?
That is one thing I’ve been interested in, how the Novices feel treated.
For those out there that are or recently have been Novices, aside from money and time issues, how was your experience? Did you get enough help through the day? Were instructors available for you?
I’ve been told before that I’m a sucky instructor for Novices (even was told “at 1st I thought you were a dick till I got to know you”), but then also been told I’m a really good instructor for Intermediates. I think Cory and the Jones’s are way better with Novices then I am, for whatever reason, so I’m wondering if even dividing up instructors by skill level would be helpful. I think FLR tried something like this a few years ago but it fizzled out. Again though its dependent on having enough people, even on the instructors side.
Last couple ECC events I woke up to go to started off with rain in the morning. Which for me equaled going back to bed.
first year for me and i love it, i always get help when i need/want it but most of the time i like to try to figure out things myself. the noob walkthrough of the track that Dale does (i think thats his name) helps too.
the only little gripe i have is the run once then sit for a while. its not a huge deal to me but it could possibly be better if we did 2 runs at a time. that way any error you made or part you think you could have done better on is fresh in you mind
The heats have advantages and disadvantages.
Running back to back with little delay is sensational, but the long work sucks. Furthermore there is no “break” to take pictures, relax, adjust… eat, take a shit, etc!
Why not run heats with 3 groups?
If the turnout on Sunday had been closer to 80 than 60, I bet there would have been 3 heats 
As it was there wouldn’t have been enough courseworkers if we divided into 3 groups.
on the notion of dunville vs auto-x i have been to dunville for my first time last year and though it was great. i like auto-x because its timed that way i know what a faster lap felt like unlike dunville where you cant really tell for sure if you were faster or not. in auto-x you have a lot of people that can help out drivers where at dunville there are not as many. dunville is fun if you just want some fun track time but i really dont think you can tell how you are doing there from a driver standpoint.
with that said im going to dunville on the 21st
I’d go to everything if my car permitted it. It doesn’t so I stick to auto-x.
This isn’t a autox vs. dunnville thread, people can go to both and should be encouraged to do so.
when i was a novice a couple years ago i thought the instruction availible wasnt too bad. although if you wanted help after having a run w/o it, it was a little tougher to find someone. But all in all back then it was good.
I would have to side with Brian about the work assignments getting screwed. There were more days then not where there was no down time cause of getting stuck working the course until your next run. It was frustrating and a big turn off about the whole day, cause i didnt want to pay $20 to sit and work 90% of the day. I understand that the asignment giver trys hard to make that not happen, but when people are called out throughout the day to work when they haven’t, only the people that work suffer.
I haven’t lately due to lack of time. So busy during the week that sometimes you dont want to pay to work more on one of your 2 days off. Plus the early thing did get in the way a few times, so i wouldn’t be opposed to seeing a later session happening. I think with a later start you would see more people there (like track days since they start later). As for being up later after the autoX, i’m sure you could get other people to help out or put times up in the morning (if you stick around you can get your unofficial times anyways).
have you guys ever thought of doing an autoX at dunnville? nothing is stopping you from loading it up with cones… it would probably be VERY fun to be honest.
agreed.
I think for my novice year everything was as good as can be expected - however that was when turnout was significantly higher I think. There was always instructors standing in grid looking for novices. I think this year in particular (from what i’ve seen) there is a decline in the amount of instructing going on because it is not as easily visible. With lower attendance I realize it is harder to do as the people that were instructing need to help work.
So it was previously mentioned that as a novice they felt like they could use more instruction from seasoned people, I don’t think he meant that the core instructors like yourself, dale, jones’, jon etc. I think he was referring to the stand in instructors (for example I was helping Chip in the S4 a bit at SeAD), which probably didn’t help him much since I am average at best 
It may just be because I am not looking for an instructor so I don’t see them, but I think in general there seems to be a bit less going on than 3 or 4 years ago.
thats almost like what seneca army depot seemed like, if it had larger sweeping turns it would be similar to a road course (shorter obviously, but there is a decent amount of space)… would be pretty cool to throw it on a road course if they permitted it, don’t know if it was be economically feasible or not though.
I doubt we would run an autox in another country.
Perrin isn’t allowed to cross the border because of too many unpaid speeding tickets on the QEW, lmao.