Drivers Meetings

jharvey

Well-known member
What's the deal with 2 "mandatory" drivers meetings every weekend? Just got back from a double race at Laguna where there were none at all. Used to only be 1 per weekend. I know people like to hear themselves talk, but if there are that may problems with peoples driving perhaps closer scrutiny of penalties and race licenses should be paid...
 
It always bothered me that the Conference race weekend was 3/4ths completed before the mandatory drivers meeting. What do we do if the drivers need to be informed of problems, issues, etc. before that meeting? The stewards don't have time to run to each driver individually to inform them of said issue. Not all tracks have a PA system worthy of the name and understandable to the whole paddock, not to mention reaching those folks that ran out to Burger King. Sad to say that some drivers really need to be reminded how to not cross the blend lines entering or exiting the pits and such mundane things. So how would you suggest that such vital information be put into the heads of drivers? Printing up more paper? Maybe a drivers meeting on pregrid before each session? Many things have been tried over the years. What works? I think the drivers meetings after the races is silly and I've seen that used. I know, let's have a drivers meeting just like the workers meeting, first thing in the morning before anyone turns a wheel. Course that means getting up early for those that don't have a session until 11. At least the information would be fresh in every drivers helmet when he starts his weekend.
 
It's the drivers responsibility to make sure they are informed as to the track and any situations. Post information at drivers services like normal, let the drivers act like adults and take care of themselves if possible.
 
Good question. Rob does bring up a good point. There is often info that needs to be passed to all and a drivers meeting is the most expeditious way to accomplish that. However, it seems to me that having a meeting on Sun with only the remaining race sessions to be completed is much like closing the barn door after the horse has departed. Sat after the initial sessions would be good to correct any noted bad behaviors etc. I also think that if a driver, including myself, makes errors with blend lines etc they might be asked to report to the steward. This seems to work with passes under yellow etc. I know that we have 2 meetings set for this year but believe that we could do away with the one on Sun without detriment. Perhaps something to think about for next year.
 
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Ding a driver $50 for a blend line violation and they won't do it again. Saying it over and over again at meetings is not getting the job done. It's wasting time. Clubs need money anyways, may as well kill two birds with one stone. Same goes for other driving violations. If the behavior is that bad then individual attention needs to be paid anyways. It was nice running a double SCCA race weekend with no meetings at all.
 
Ding a driver $50 for a blend line violation and they won't do it again. Saying it over and over again at meetings is not getting the job done. It's wasting time. Clubs need money anyways, may as well kill two birds with one stone. Same goes for other driving violations. If the behavior is that bad then individual attention needs to be paid anyways. It was nice running a double SCCA race weekend with no meetings at all.

Fine revenue is paid to ICSCC not the clubs
 
"let the drivers act like adults and take care of themselves if possible."

Anything's possible.

Fining drivers for making mistakes that they can cry, "Nobody told me" because they just came out of DT and into Novice and the information that they have recieved thus far has been car control. Do our drivers ever become 'trained' in reading the regulations or the supplemental regulations?

Every day there is a manditory 'worker' meeting in the morning. And every station will have their own morning meeting to go over the same redundant information that we hear at every morning meeting. Why? To help etch that important information into the minds of both experienced and inexperienced.

Is there something that makes a "driver" so unique that they cannot benefit from that same kind of training? The meetings are successful in creating conversation too. Question, answers, "What ifs" and so on.

I believe that our drivers can be adult enough to realize the benefits of these meeting. Especially since making the Saturday meeting manditory was presented to, and voted into the regulations by the licensed drivers of ICSCC.

So there you go.

The negative motivation of fines and other penalties have a tendency to turn people away than to convince them to comply with regulations that they may not have had a complete and honest understanding of in the first place.

Also, as Dave points out. I'm pretty sure that the penalty $$ go to the Conference, not the individual club.
 
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Don't fool yourselves into thinking the drivers don't know or read the regulations. They know all the rules of their cars and their class, maybe they need to be coaxed into reading the whole thing. It is their responsibility. Having a drivers meeting every day to tell them the same thing obviously does not work. More meetings are not helping, just frustrating people.

Penalties, even financial ones, are commonplace in motorsports. Seeing the size of organizations that penalize via monies vs ICSCC, it would appear that we should be copying more successful race organizations. Just an opinion. If they don't understand the rules it is their responsibility to learn them. The nanny state mentality does NOT work. If someone does not know that they cannot pass under yellow, or that they need to not cross the blend line, or to not drive like an idiot then a meeting where they are texting their buddies the whole time won't help. There has to be peer education and penalties. When I had my CF I used to wave to each corner station on Saturday morning to let them know that I knew they were there and where they were. I was not a genius, it was taught to me by my cousin. But, also, I give a crap. There are plenty of people that don't give a crap and the only language they can understand is pain. So cause them some pain. It's the turn workers that risk the most damage from some of these idiotic things that happen out there. I could rant on forever, but what's the point. I've been coming to ICSCC races for 30 years and have watched all sorts of things going on.

Y'all can have meetings every day, even twice a day, but nothing is going to change unless you force people to be responsible.
 
It sounds like Josh should take his ideas and try them as Steward. As an assistant steward all I wanted to do was hear myself talk.
 
Why don't we just inflict stricter penalties on the rules we already have? It would make everyone's job (including the steward) easier and safer for all. We have plenty of good rules already, we don't need the government effect of just adding more.

If a driver will not follow rules from ICSCC and enforced by the steward then they should be ejected, no exceptions. Lives are on the line.
 
It's the drivers responsibility to make sure they are informed as to the track and any situations. Post information at drivers services like normal, let the drivers act like adults and take care of themselves if possible.

But the steward has to spank so many that way....

From my perspective as a worker, it gets awfully old hearing that "the steward will discuss it at the drivers meeting" and then watch several other drivers making the same error. Perhaps there is more going on behind the scenes that I don't hear about, but waiting until the weekend is 3/4 done before correcting bad behavior seems a bit much. Hopefully they are taking the offenders out behind the woodshed before the drivers meeting finally rolls around.
 
The meetings don't bother me as a driver... They are more than just safety meetings as they usually have quick updates from the next race, unique details to special races and normally just good laughs to keep everyone smiling.

One of the reasons I left SCCA is that there wasn't much fun and chatter amongst competitors. Impound though can be quite that way as it's directly after the race and easy to locate the person you had a blast racing with.

Conference is about the entire weekend experience and enjoying everything. I'm referencing the 5-10 minute walk to and from the meeting talking with drivers, team members and just breaking up the "in my paddock" feel.

Not looking to argue or go back & forth just adding another drivers opinion.
 
Honestly, I prefer the driver's meetings. If anything, cut it to 1 meeting. It gets all the drivers together and allows us to address any issues we have.

I was also at Laguna, and I believe there should've been a drivers meeting. Lots of drivers unaware of the sound readings and black flag, yet of the 3 stewards we talked to, all had a different answer on what the proper thing to do was. If all were together, at say, a driver's meeting, perhaps there'd be more clarification on what to do.
 
The drivers meeting is actually for the stewards in the hope that 15 minutes of your time will prevent them from having to spend 4 hours at the end of the day sorting things out.
 
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