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I thought the call to cancel 2nd heat was premature.  I drove the 65 miles home to Bloomington Indiana, and did not hit any severe weather.  When I got home, I checked the radar for Indy, and did not see anything that would have been worth cancelling the event.

Since I started autocrossing (25 years ago), I've only been to two solo events cancelled for weather.  I understand why we cancelled an event last year (site was under water).  Would could have at least gotten half the runs done.  The forecast was for storms so we new up front what we were going to be up against.

Also, 40+ cars per heat is too many cars in Grid at 16th Street.  I would have preferred 3 heats at about 30 cars in each.  There would have been enough room in grid, and the heats would have been shorter.  With 3 heats, you get at least one heat to rest, and enjoy the event.

There were several folks at the event that traveled at least an hour or more to get to the event.  I would have preferred a vote or something.

Some new equipment may be in order as well (PA cord, extension cords), you get that at every 1st event of the season...something is always bound to go wrong.

I pretty much agree with the above. It barely sprinkled my whole drive home. I'm out 7 hours after travel time/setup/working/etc, and all I get for it is to not have to pay again? The 1st run group got the way better deal, free event or not.

Perhaps today's work assignment should also count as "extra work" to qualify for the worker's invite?

Edit: 3 heats would have been nearly impossible though, as each station already only had 2-3 workers from what I could see. There just wouldn't have been enough course workers.

I would have rather dealt with driving a bit in the rain around cones than the idiots in and around Indy.  Don't think those that worked and did not get to run should have to work at the "free" event that they will be given.  Or that worker credit thing for the invitational would be cool.

 Would also agree with 30 cars in a heat.  We do just fine at Walesboro having 8-10 stations with one person when we're low on people.  I don't see why three heats would be a big deal for Indy Region.
 

I know it was very disappointing for a lot of people who traveled to the event.  It was disappointing to me, as a Solo Chair, as well.  We worked very hard to keep on schedule after the bus broke down and it looked like it was going to be a good day, even if it rained.

Just so it's clear to everyone, the decision to cancel the event was based on the lightning, not the rain.   We thought we were going to be able to get started again, then within a couple of minutes we had more close strikes.  The radar we were watching showed a long band of weather with reds and yellows which was actually worse than what we were experiencing.  There was no way to tell if it would have more lightning.

The decision was made by the 2 chairs (Dave and I) and the Safety Steward.  The information we had at the time did not look good.  Our worker stations are under 100 ft metal light poles, and we decided on the side of safety. 

Second heat drivers will be given a free entry into their next Indy Region autocross.  I sincerely hope everyone will take advantage of it.

Phil

kar120c:

I know it was very disappointing for a lot of people who traveled to the event.  It was disappointing to me, as a Solo Chair, as well.  We worked very hard to keep on schedule after the bus broke down and it looked like it was going to be a good day, even if it rained.

Just so it's clear to everyone, the decision to cancel the event was based on the lightning, not the rain.   We thought we were going to be able to get started again, then within a couple of minutes we had more close strikes.  The radar we were watching showed a long band of weather with reds and yellows which was actually worse than what we were experiencing.  There was no way to tell if it would have more lightning.

The decision was made by the 2 chairs (Dave and I) and the Safety Steward.  The information we had at the time did not look good.  Our worker stations are under 100 ft metal light poles, and we decided on the side of safety. 

Second heat drivers will be given a free entry into their next Indy Region autocross.  I sincerely hope everyone will take advantage of it.

Phil

Pretend I didn't post this, I read incorrectly.

lyric911:

kar120c:

I know it was very disappointing for a lot of people who traveled to the event.  It was disappointing to me, as a Solo Chair, as well.  We worked very hard to keep on schedule after the bus broke down and it looked like it was going to be a good day, even if it rained.

Just so it's clear to everyone, the decision to cancel the event was based on the lightning, not the rain.   We thought we were going to be able to get started again, then within a couple of minutes we had more close strikes.  The radar we were watching showed a long band of weather with reds and yellows which was actually worse than what we were experiencing.  There was no way to tell if it would have more lightning.

The decision was made by the 2 chairs (Dave and I) and the Safety Steward.  The information we had at the time did not look good.  Our worker stations are under 100 ft metal light poles, and we decided on the side of safety. 

Second heat drivers will be given a free entry into their next Indy Region autocross.  I sincerely hope everyone will take advantage of it.

Phil

 

If it's only good for the next event I'm going to be really peeved as A) that isn't what was announced and B) I can't make that one due to work. If I paid $20 to work a job with no seat time...grr.

 I'm pretty sure Phil said the next Indy region event YOU go to, not necessarily the next  one on the 19th, but whichever one you show up to.  At least that's how I understood it.

Clemens:

Shahab has it figured out

I too was very disappointed, not in the call, in the weather.  I for one was looking forward to running in the rain, however looking at the radar on my phone while we were there I didn't expect it to let up like it did, wouldn't you know it was dry here for a couple hours starting after we had all the cones picked up.  Hind sight is 20/20.  I think they made the right call for the given information.

 There are a couple things that came to mind that maybe we could have done, I know I am a newbie so I may not know all the rules and maybe these aren't even an option.  But since it was a fun run maybe there were some things we could have done:

 - Since it is such a large area there it would have been possible to put a few people out in their cars (to stay out of the weather) off to the sides of the track to watch for cone killing, they could radio it in still and hell they could even drive over to pick it up, would slow things down but would still allow those wanting to run in the rain the opportunity to get a couple laps in.  I would say a seasoned person should be out in each car watching cones just to keep it as safe as possible.

 I don't know, like I said, I haven't been around long enough to know what's what and who's who, but that would have bought us some time till it cleared up (hind sight, yes I know).  I don't think it was a bad call but maybe there is something we can take away from it going forward.

 just my 2 cents.

Shahab323is:

lyric911:

kar120c:

I know it was very disappointing for a lot of people who traveled to the event.  It was disappointing to me, as a Solo Chair, as well.  We worked very hard to keep on schedule after the bus broke down and it looked like it was going to be a good day, even if it rained.

Just so it's clear to everyone, the decision to cancel the event was based on the lightning, not the rain.   We thought we were going to be able to get started again, then within a couple of minutes we had more close strikes.  The radar we were watching showed a long band of weather with reds and yellows which was actually worse than what we were experiencing.  There was no way to tell if it would have more lightning.

The decision was made by the 2 chairs (Dave and I) and the Safety Steward.  The information we had at the time did not look good.  Our worker stations are under 100 ft metal light poles, and we decided on the side of safety. 

Second heat drivers will be given a free entry into their next Indy Region autocross.  I sincerely hope everyone will take advantage of it.

Phil

 

If it's only good for the next event I'm going to be really peeved as A) that isn't what was announced and B) I can't make that one due to work. If I paid $20 to work a job with no seat time...grr.

 I'm pretty sure Phil said the next Indy region event YOU go to, not necessarily the next  one on the 19th, but whichever one you show up to.  At least that's how I understood it.

I read it wrong. Edited my post above. :/

BoostEEd:

I too was very disappointed, not in the call, in the weather.  I for one was looking forward to running in the rain, however looking at the radar on my phone while we were there I didn't expect it to let up like it did, wouldn't you know it was dry here for a couple hours starting after we had all the cones picked up.  Hind sight is 20/20.  I think they made the right call for the given information.

 There are a couple things that came to mind that maybe we could have done, I know I am a newbie so I may not know all the rules and maybe these aren't even an option.  But since it was a fun run maybe there were some things we could have done:

 - Since it is such a large area there it would have been possible to put a few people out in their cars (to stay out of the weather) off to the sides of the track to watch for cone killing, they could radio it in still and hell they could even drive over to pick it up, would slow things down but would still allow those wanting to run in the rain the opportunity to get a couple laps in.  I would say a seasoned person should be out in each car watching cones just to keep it as safe as possible.

 I don't know, like I said, I haven't been around long enough to know what's what and who's who, but that would have bought us some time till it cleared up (hind sight, yes I know).  I don't think it was a bad call but maybe there is something we can take away from it going forward.

 just my 2 cents.

Unfortunately that would be too unsafe. As it is, we were using every inch of pavement (including safe run off areas) for the event. It looks like there is extra room - but that is all for safety reasons. And, as stated it wasn't the rain that stopped the event it was the lightening. Working in the rain is expected at some events (I hit the stores last night to buy a poncho and umbrella for this event).

As to the free event for workers today - Phil said 'their next Indy event' - so I am pretty sure that would mean any event this season as stated at the event.

I feel really badly (and a little guilty even) for everyone that didn't get to run today. I definitely understand the upset. I trust Phil, Dave, and Lee made the best decision they could with the information they had at the time though. As stated, hindisght is 20/20. Lightening is the one thing that can kill an event - and there is no doubt there was lightening in the area (Keep in mind they have a legal obligation to run a safe event - we 'could' all agree to run in lightening, but if something happened those guys have liability.) One thought I had was if we could have had a quick meeting to let people know we would try to wait it out - upwards of an hour or two even. (Maybe we could even come up with a total delay time we agree on at a meeting for future events.) I know I would have been happy to wait an hour or two to start my work assignment. Not sure if there is a flaw in that idea somewhere.

As to workers - I don't know if that should count as worker invitational qualifier. That is inteded for someone that goes the extra step to be involved. Todays workers were doing the standard job and got unlucky. But, perhaps we could give worker holidays to those members over the course of the season. Each worker gets an event work free (given we have sufficient workers to allow this - just a few off each event).

(I kind of would like to talk about the good things from this event - but I don't want to rub it in to those that didn't get to run. I will say I think everyone did a good job especially given the technical issues - nice course, started close to on time, and for the lucky half of us it was a very nice event.)

The Nebulizer:

Unfortunately that would be too unsafe. As it is, we were using every inch of pavement (including safe run off areas) for the event. It looks like there is extra room - but that is all for safety reasons. And, as stated it wasn't the rain that stopped the event it was the lightening. Working in the rain is expected at some events (I hit the stores last night to buy a poncho and umbrella for this event).

(I kind of would like to talk about the good things from this event - but I don't want to rub it in to those that didn't get to run. I will say I think everyone did a good job especially given the technical issues - nice course, started close to on time, and for the lucky half of us it was a very nice event.)

Like I said, I'm still learning.  I figured there would be a reason, I just didn't know what it was :)  

Life will go on.  

I didn't get to run, but I still had a great time and got to meet some new people, I enjoyed watching those run that did get to run and talking to some people before the event.  I won't lie and say I am not a little disappointed, but it was still educational for me.  I look forward to the next event and getting more involved.

I was not suggesting that we run when there is lightening.  I was the first to shout into the timing van, "shouldn't we get the workers in", when I saw the lightening getting close.

I've been a safety steward for many years.  So I know all about safety.

I was merely stating we should have waited it out before making a decision to send everyone packing.  I personally will think twice in the future about driving 130+ miles to an event if the weather forecast looks iffy, and there's a good chance the event would not take place.

There would have been nothing wrong with waiting an hour...tell everyone to take a lunch break, and if it still looks bad, ask the competitors who haven't ran if they want to wait some more.

The Nebulizer:

As to workers - I don't know if that should count as worker invitational qualifier. That is inteded for someone that goes the extra step to be involved. Todays workers were doing the standard job and got unlucky. But, perhaps we could give worker holidays to those members over the course of the season. Each worker gets an event work free (given we have sufficient workers to allow this - just a few off each event).

I like this idea even better.

(My frustration has came down a lot since earlier today. It's just, well, frustrating to spend time getting the car ready, waking up at the ass crack on a weekend, driving to Indy, etc etc...to pay $20 to work)

Edit: Speaking of good things from the event, it looks like you've improved a lot in the off season. Is it the tires or you? 

I'm pretty frustrated and disappointed too, but only with the weather.  More specifically, the lightning and resulting shutting down of the event.  As commented on above, even though I'm dedicated (or relalistically, dumb)  enough to have stayed to finish out the event, those in a position of responsibility made what was probably the responsible call given the info available.  I really, really wanted to drive today, but safety is safety and I'd rather lose my driving time than lose the opportunity for future events or worse yet a fellow competitor. 

Things I did like today, which I think are improvements to the program and bode well for future events:

The earlier schedule.  About halfway through the first (only) heat, it felt like we had been out there forever and my broken toe was screaming.  I looked at my watch and it was 11:40am.  There have been events at 16th Street where we hadn't even started driving yet at that time. 

The new pricing structure.  I've only occasionally used the My Auto Events site to pre-reg, mostly because there wasn't a lot of motivation to do so and when I did it didn't speed things up for me at the Registration Trailer.  Today was different.  $5 saved, and it only took a couple of minutes to get signed in.  From the looks of things quite a few others pre-registered too.  As a corollary, the registration trailer seemed to be clicking along on all cylinders this morning - nice job folks.

Rookies.  We've done some things for novices previously, but I thought the Novice Meeting and course walk was well organized and attended today.  Good job Ron.  I'm also guessing that if it keeps up that way that the Solo chairs can trim some additional info off of the regular Drivers'  Meeting at future events.  Reviewing basics today in both meetings made sense since it hopefully cleared the off-season cobwebs out of our heads.

 The course.  It looked fun (wish I had gotten to try it).  Lots of elements, lots of transitions, but it didn't walk like any of it would be painfully slow.  Easy to follow, but demanding focus and looking ahead.  The layout was a little different than is typical for the site, which isn't easy to do given the safety limitations at 16th St.  The last run up the hill to the finish looked like it would be fun and a nice way to end the course.

lyric911:

Edit: Speaking of good things from the event, it looks like you've improved a lot in the off season. Is it the tires or you? 

I'd have to say that was all rubber. I am a pretty quick learner - but an even faster forgetter (as evidenced by my first run's 30 second peelout at the start - yeah, that was not on purpose ).

Kumho XS felt great. I can easily say I never had that much grip before (new 285 XS  vs. previous lightly used 265 Yoko Neova). I got away with a lot of things I know would have made me push or spin out before. I could only just barely get those tires to break loose and even then just slightly and I only barely had to correct. They felt like what I always imagined R comps would feel like. I hope the grip lasts.

I'm going to take blame for one thing that hasn't been brought up today. Grid was packed. Several things played against us. Turn out wasn't large enough to justify three run groups. Also, in the first run group there were only 2 two driver cars. This made for a very crowded grid. Phil and I had discussed earlier this year about making more room for grid. I told him I would make sure we had plenty of room for grid at the 16th st events. I didn't do it. It won't happen again.

I think Phil, Dave and Lee made exactly the right decision to shut it down. Weather radar on my phone indicated that some heavy stuff was on the way. The RIGHT decision was to get everyone off site. Imagine being them and making the decision to press on and someone gets hurt, or worse, killed by a lightning strike. I certainly wouldn't want that on my concience. Even if they hadn't shut the event down the course was going to need to be moved. There was a huge water puddle right where one of the gates was. Huge as in almost a foot deep in some places. Running the second heat though that would have been a disaster. You can second guess the decision to shut down the event all you like but you'd still be wrong.

We all look at the weather forecast before we go to events. I've driven 100 miles one way to an event that was cancelled minutes before I got there. It's the nature of the beast. If you are not willing to take that risk when the weather is questionable then stay home. I just don't see how complaining about this on the internet is solving any of the weather problems we had today.

Edit:I was on site this morning at 6:20 and didn't get to run for what that's worth. Still, I had a good time, BTW.

If it aint broke, don't fix it.