Welcome to Barber, now go away!

[carnut169]

What an afternoon.

Left for Barber at 3:00- it's a 2 hour drive and that should get us to the track around 5:30. On the way the left front caliper on the truck locks up and no more brakes. $1100 and 2 hours later we are back on the road... ok- I've heard the gate will be open at 5:00, but may not be open till 7:00. Also heard it closed at 9:00 but only open for 2 hours... no, thats not possible, right? I do remember reading in the supps that registrtaion was open till 9:00 on Friday...

We get to the track just after 8:00 and find out that the gates opened at 7, reg closed at 7 and see you tomorrow. Needless to say this was very disappointing after the day we've had. There were a few others there even more upset... one guy who was told to leave or the cops would be called and another who said he was done with the scca and all its crap.
Then, this guy rolls up and gets out of his car. He announced that he was the race chair- I thought, thank god... he'll let us sign the releases and park/ setup. No. He starts landblasting me about giving the guard grief (the other guy must have done this). I explained that he had the wrong guy- the guard was just doing his job and was as nice as he could be- he said ok, I'm looking for that guy and walked off to deal with someone else. WTF!?
I really could not believe the way the guy was talking to the racers who were being turned away. I have raced at every event ever offered at Barber but would think twice next time after this.

[GT1Vette]

Sean,

I appreciate that you called me before posting here, but unfortunately I didn't see you had called until this morning. I got irate e-mails from others as well.

When I sent out the notice that we might not be able to get in until 7:00 on Thursday (which ended up being true because the m/c manufacturer that had the track rented on Thursday was adamant that NO ONE was allowed in even though they reportedly hadn't put bikes on the track since 11:00 that morning), I assumed our Registration team would realize the conflict and stay open later than 7:00. Yes, I do know how to spell ass-u-me, and that will not happen again.

Right now I'm wondering if Atlanta Region being involved with hosting the Barber event (or ANY event 200 miles from our home) has merit. Ask me again on Sunday afternoon.

Butch Kummer
Atlanta Region Competition Director

[thunderracing91]

Sorry about the bad luck!! I have had race weekends go bad like that and you havent even strapped yourself in the car yet!. I keep hearing more bad stories like this about SCCA all the time. I am still pretty new to scca (5yrs club racing) and the more I learn and race with them the more I feel like I should have gone to another organization and raced something else.................................

Andrew

[Marshall Mauney]

I keep hearing more bad stories like this about SCCA all the time. I am still pretty new to scca (5yrs club racing) and the more I learn and race with them the more I feel like I should have gone to another organization and raced something else.................................

Easy there...these situations are the exception, not the rule.

Please try to keep in mind that SCCA is a CLUB, and everyone who works the races is a volunteer.

Frankly, if you don't like the way your region is being run, the best response is to jump in and try to help. I know (from personal experience) that this is tough for a driver to do. However, I have yet to be turned away from a regional meeting, and I've belonged to several regions around the country. All have welcomed input and assistance (and I've probably not given as much of the latter as I should have).

[This is not meant as an indictment - just an observation.]

[Daryl DeArman]

deleted--my original post had nothing to do with this event or track or region, just in reference to getting involved.

[reddemon]

That's too bad that that happened. It's disappointing to be sure. However, sometimes crap happens, things get screwed up and even the best run region can fumble.

Some general thoughts, not necessarily directed at the OP, but to anyone in this situation:
1.) Don't be a dink to people like gate guards or track workers. Over the years, I've witnessed absolutely reprehensible behaviour directed at folks who were just doing their job. I witnessed a young 20-something screaming, and I mean absolutely SCREAMING at a 70+ year old man who was covering a pit gate. Why? Because he had sandals on and the club's own rules didn't allow open shoes in the pits!
Slick, huh? Bitching out the guy who was paid by the track to enforce the club's own rules...real mensa candidate.
Yes, sometimes you run into a dink working that job. But by and large, don't take it out on them. Doesn't work.

2.) If a situation like that happens again, direct complaints to the people in charge, ie your Stewards, Comp Board, or RE. Whichever one is fitting for the situation. Again, it shouldn't be directed at the track workers.

3.) One event should not color your judgement of the entire region or club. This one sucked, yes, but have you experienced good times at the track as well? Good responses when there was an incident on track? Well run race weekends? Fun events? Competitors who jumped in to help you out if you needed it? It can be all too easy to take that for granted. Not every organization runs the same way.

4.) The "You don't like it then volunteer" line pisses me off. Because I spent years and years volunteering, in every capacity known. And I did it 100%. I still do it when needed, but it's also hard now when I am also competiting and crewing. I hate it when I get that line thrown at me, especially when it's delivered by someone who has spent less hours than I volunteering, and it's done in a rather snotty delivery. Because, you know what? I would like to play too, dammit! I worked so you could play, now it's my turn.
So if you are volunteering, then do the task because you want to, not just so you can party at the end of the day.

(edit: not directed at the respondant above me, this was in reference to an incident at the track involving a steward)

The SCCA isn't for everyone. But it is a good fit for a lot of folks. Don't let yourself get caught up in the negative bitch fest, especially when there are a lot of good things about it.

Just my .02 cents worth.

[Alan Oppel]

Just to be clear, do not villify our SCCA people for dealing with track management problems. I can say from experience that Barber Motorsports Park is difficult to deal with, and may have been the underlying issue with that and many other situations. SCCA may be bound by agreements with track management that allows no leeway.
Alan

[thunderracing91]

Easy there...these situations are the exception, not the rule.

Please try to keep in mind that SCCA is a CLUB, and everyone who works the races is a volunteer.

Frankly, if you don't like the way your region is being run, the best response is to jump in and try to help. I know (from personal experience) that this is tough for a driver to do. However, I have yet to be turned away from a regional meeting, and I've belonged to several regions around the country. All have welcomed input and assistance (and I've probably not given as much of the latter as I should have).

[This is not meant as an indictment - just an observation.]

Well thats just my thought on personal experiences with SCCA. I have heard more bad than good and bad word travels hell of a lot faster than good. I could give some input on some things but honestly if I were to tell somebody I feel like they would look at me and say "what does this 20 something kid even know?" Its like the old saying goes "my way or the highway" I just play thier game, smile and nod. On the other hand......MVRG is one of the nicest regions to race with and the people there would bend over backwards to help you out. I wish all the regions were like this!

Andrew

[rickb99]

I must say, up here in Northern Pacifice region the 5 tracks we deal with are all great in terms of paddock entry/egress during odd hours and the track mgmt staff are good to work with. Furthermore, our regional execs and specialties in SCCA are all GREAT!

Now, if we could just get enough people to RACE so we could have a season

[Marshall Mauney]

4.) The "You don't like it then volunteer" line pisses me off. Because I spent years and years volunteering, in every capacity known. And I did it 100%. I still do it when needed, but it's also hard now when I am also competiting and crewing. I hate it when I get that line thrown at me, especially when it's delivered by someone who has spent less hours than I volunteering, and it's done in a rather snotty delivery. Because, you know what? I would like to play too, dammit! I worked so you could play, now it's my turn.
So if you are volunteering, then do the task because you want to, not just so you can party at the end of the day.

(edit: not directed at the respondant above me, this was in reference to an incident at the track involving a steward)

Fair enough - I think I wasn't clear in my post. "Jumping in and trying to help" can be as simple as showing up at the region meetings and letting your thoughts be heard in a calm, controlled environment. It's possible that there can be things that are a real pain for a particular group of people (corner workers, registration, drivers, crew, etc.) that the race management team simply aren't aware of. If they don't know it's a problem, you can guarantee it won't get fixed. Jumping down someone's throat during the event is generally not the best way to get things addressed.