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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| If I
Was The Race Director by Norm Bogan |
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How
often have you sat in the stands and observed some misdeed by the racers and
uttered the words, "IF I WAS THE RACE DIRECTOR, I would surely handle this
situation different". Many of
us feel our ability to enforce the rules and mete out punishment, is much better
than those in the position of authority. At
most racetracks, there is an official, whose duty it is to interpret and enforce
the rules. He usually comes under
the title of Race Director or Competition Director, but it is his task to
evaluate an infringement of the rules and determine the severity of the penalty.
This person is usually perched high above the racing action, so they can
observe with unlimited visibility. This
official is normally in radio contact with the starter, track workers and pit
stewards, so that decisions can be expedited. During
the course of a race there are a number of occurrences, which need to be
addressed. Quite often for the fan
in the stands, what he sees is a car that doesn't get into its proper place
after a caution flag or a car that has stopped, but declines to go the rear of
the field. There may be a car that has spun out twice and refuses to go to the
pits. There also may be an occasion
when a car runs into another, to decide if it was a blatant occurrence or just
incidental contact. This
individual, who I'll call the Race Director,
needs to be knowledgeable of racing situations.
He needs to understand the technical problems that affect the racecars
and most of all he needs to be a disciplinarian.
Because of that he must be thick-skinned and be subjected to a limited
amount of abuse, for the decisions he makes.
Most of all, he needs to evaluate situations quickly and then make a
decision, kind of like a Field Commander in the Army. Recently,
I had the opportunity to sit with the Race Director at one of our local tracks.
The scorers are working nearby to line up the field, while some the
racers never agree on their position. The
Race Director, a no-nonsense kind of guy, radioed to one of his assistants on
the track to notify the drivers to get in their assigned position or go to the
pits. One of his responsibilities
is to keep the show moving, especially with multiple classes running.
The fans get very restless over long caution periods and at many tracks,
you're up against a curfew. When there was an altercation, he dispatched
assistants to each pit to cool things down and let each crew know that any
further action would be met with fines and suspensions. During
each race, the Race Director is communicating with his pit stewards to get the next scheduled race lined up. He coordinates with
the flagman, when it is necessary to black flag a car or often is first to
observe an incident, which requires a yellow or red flag and makes the call to
the starter from his vantage point. The
Race Director is an important individual to the racers, fans and the promoter.
He has his finger on the heartbeat of the event.
A good strong Race Director is an asset and while the competitors may not
always agree with his decisions, they do respect his ability to respond to the
situations in a timely manner. While
he is apt to make a bad call on occasion, the racers will appreciate him for
being fair and firm. The
Race Director is a person, who must operate on gut instincts many times and must
treat a situation the same, whether it affects the season point leader or just
one of the back markers. Immediate
reaction is most necessary, so he can't say "I didn't see it or we'll talk
about it next week". In some
cases, it may be necessary to make a preliminary decision and follow up within a
short period of time, to be entirely fair to all parties involved. Next
time you're at the track, take time to evaluate how well the show is moving
along. Are the cautions extra long
due to lineup problems. Does it
appear that there is favoritism, when discipline is meted out.
Remember also, that on some occasions, the Race Director has been
physically attacked for doing an unpopular task. If you're happy with your program, then you probably have a
good Race Director, behind the scenes. If
you find the quality lacking, then you may utter the familiar words....IF I WAS
THE RACE DIRECTOR. |
