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A friend of mine (occasional autocrosser) is going to rent Mineral Wells for a day so that he can introduce his pre-teen kids to autocrossing. He was thinking about buying cones to setup the course, but it seems that might be an unnecessary expense. Are there any other available options to rent or borrow cones from any of the local clubs? I don't think he would need many, since I think he was just going to do the basic mineral ring configurations.
Tell him to buy insurance for the site, even if its just him and his boy. Anything that happens, even from an outside party, can be his liability.
David Whitener and Gerry T own cones that they might be willing to rent-out.
What he is wanting to do sounds very dangerous to me. We have a hard enough time keeping experienced adults safe on the autocross course which requires layers of tech inspection, drivers license, site access restriction, corner workers, course walks, specific safety and conduct rules, etc.... Allowing children to drive real cars at speed seems like an accident waiting to happen. Every time we are out there a group of locals show up and want to do donuts, or drag race, or drive off through the center of the lot to get to the natural gas storage tanks or local business. Children do not have the skills, experience, or mental development necessary to deal with unexpected situations like these.
Damn, it just got real... Glad I read this because I have been wanting to at some point organize my own autocross events that remove some of the obstacles that have kept me from participating up to this point: having to wake up early, being forced to volunteer, being there all day for just a few runs... I didn't think it would be easy and its kind of just a pipe dream at this point but I also didn't think that safety was that huge of an issue on a flat cone course... good infoQuote:
Originally Posted by nomadtrash
The only car that has ever rolled over at an autox event in Texas since 2008 (to my knowledge) was a stock (except tires) FiST.
If you consider "forced volunteering" and waking up early as barriers to entry, then just go play with the driftos now. You are a fail waiting to happen.
Wait a minute?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gernby
Carts?? Or will 12 year old kids (aka pre-teen) be driving cars at Mineral Wells?? :confused:
Those who have kids about ready or just driving don't forget about the Teen Driving School in February - Link -> http://www.texasscca.org/teen-driving ::Banana::
There are spare cones in the old trailer. When the BMW club purged old cones we dumped several stacks in the trailer.
I like the idea of an event where I show up late, don't work, and run all day. Sweet, sign me up.
Sign me up also. I am sure it's also free.Quote:
Originally Posted by ken o
Will this magical AX club buy my tires too?Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert
LOL... the pile on! I'm not a morning person and I've talked to a bunch of people who don't do autocross for the reasons stated above.
The instructor at Octane Academy is the one who told me that I would be there all day for just a few minutes of actual driving and hearing that was pretty disappointing. Did he exaggerate?
I understand that is the norm, but I think it would be nice if there was an alternative option where events were hosted later in the day and organized in a way where people could come and do their runs and get out in a more reasonable amount of time.
I would be willing to pay more for that experience, especially if I did not have to volunteer. If enough people paid a slightly higher fee (or even a significantly higher one), is it unreasonable to think that people could get hired to do some of the work usually done by volunteers... or let people doing the volunteering drive for free?
Is that really something that you guys would not be in favor of?
Will there be funnel cakes or pie? Or both?
Cheese cake...cheddarQuote:
Originally Posted by cone-cerned
P.S. I plan to suck it up and wake up early and come out this season and I hope to see you guys out there... hopefully not while looking up at you from a rolled over FiST.
There will be all kinds of food trucks that will compete at the end of the day...Quote:
Originally Posted by cone-cerned
And then when its all over if each and everyone of us could get a Participant Ribbon it would be the greatest late morning into mid afternoon autocross evar!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by cone-cerned
http://tullertrophy.com/images/p500x...ons-4j3Fkw.jpg
Ken, how long ago was this? Manskey told me all the cones were stolen. I am not sure how long ago this was though, I am guessing he doesn't check inside the trailer often.Quote:
Originally Posted by ken o
Also, I have it on good authority that the organizer isn't letting his kids drive. No clubs allow ridealongs for kids not of driving age, so this is a good way for an experienced autocrossed to introduce his kids to the sport without having to wait til they have a license.
I had a very similar discussion with a friend of mine. I know I would prefer to show up and not corner work, being able to just focus on racing and enjoying watching other cars run all day would be a better alternative and I would pay more for that experience. (Depending on what the price works out too, admittedly it sounds easier said than done but I have not looked at the books of any of the local clubs so obviously I am clueless on how feasible it would be.)Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackFiST
I am also the sort of autocrosser who would favor time on track over time wasted on different classes, pax scores etc etc. All time wasters that I don't care about.
Is all that popular enough to catch on to fill up some events? IDK....
The instructor was pretty much correct. You will be there all day and get 5-10 runs depending on the club.
I think we all would like to show later and leave earlier but you need at least 40-50 people to cover all the jobs and pay for the site and other costs. Giving 40-50 cars 10 runs takes most of the day. Paid workers sounds great but trying to hire and manage that many people adds a hole other level to the event operation not to mention the added cost.
Labora
The classes, pax scores don't add any time to the events.
I am sure that you could fill up events if you could pull it off, but I don't know how you would do it
HPDE or NASA TTQuote:
Originally Posted by Labora
I think Houston SCCA does morning and afternoon events. ½ of the classes run in the morning and the other ½ runs in the afternoon. Sounds like a good system but the down side is that it doubles the people needed for some of the jobs and puts an even larger burden on some of the ones already carrying more than their share of the work.Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackFiST
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackFiST
BF, I actually went to an ax kinda Like you described it was a car club by invitation. Cost more money I think it was 80.00 entitled you to 20 runs with 10 morning10 afternoon,no work and lunch included ! Classy deal and very nicely done. Dusty
I would be all over that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dusty
P.S. Apologies to OP for the thread hijack!
Sounds nice, the only Club Autox I got a invite to (they needed more cars to fill roster) was only 4 runs for 60$ but no working. I passed....Quote:
Originally Posted by Dusty
The private events mentioned above are typically money-losers for the clubs that pay for them, but its a special thing they do once or twice a year using membership dues in addition to entry fees. Not sustainable. I think you'd need to charge around $100-120/driver in order to have a sustainable system that pays a pool of reliable workers. That alone is a huge challenge. You would need to use in-town sites in order to get enough workers to regularly show-up for $100 pay, which is about $10/hr (Mineral Wells will cost them $20 in gas alone).
I am skeptical that people will actually pay that kind of money to do 10 runs. One reason track events are more expensive is the cost of workers.
Give it a try if you like.
Autocross is not for seat time, if you want seat time go to a track day.
ER can set you up with a private event for you and a few of your buddies. Email me for details at [email protected]
Yes it will be kind of expensive but you will get the seat time you want plus it will be safe and well planned and executed.
What's kind of expensive?Quote:
Originally Posted by nomadtrash
;)Quote:
Originally Posted by nomadtrash