IndyCar weekend

[rodhx]

What a great weekend to work the races at Barber! The Porsche 250, and especially the Continental Series race, provided tons of action on Saturday. On Sunday I got to know Brian Wilson, working turn 11 with him and another new friend and just having a great time.

To top it all off, Brian suggested we go down to the fence to wave at the drivers at the end of the IndyCar race, so we were standing there when Castroneves decided to climb the fence directly in front of our station. When he got out and started running toward us I wasn't sure if he'd climb the fence or jump on us! In the footage I have seen so far you can clearly see Brian standing there as Helio starts up the fence, and that's me behind Brian

Thoughts from the weekend:
1. As always, a huge field of "slow" cars provides the most entertaining race.
2. The Grand Am GT field is quickly becoming spec RX8
3. Them there IndyCars are mighty fast, especially when the whole field comes by for the first time.
4. Well, except for Milka Duno, who is awfully slow and downright dangerous. I knew that already, but it was "interesting" to see in person.
5. Graham Rahal...I got your dad's autograph today...but when you see blue flags at 17 corner stations for 10 consecutive laps, it just might mean the leaders are directly behind you
and finally, after watching race cars for three days and I am more than ready for the PDX to get here so I can pretend to be one myself

[WickedLoose]

To top it all off, Brian suggested we go down to the fence to wave at the drivers at the end of the IndyCar race, so we were standing there when Castroneves decided to climb the fence directly in front of our station. When he got out and started running toward us I wasn't sure if he'd climb the fence or jump on us! In the footage I have seen so far you can clearly see Brian standing there as Helio starts up the fence, and that's me behind Brian

I stood underneath him as he climbed in case he fell. Of course, I could never have caught him had he fallen...

1) We had a lot of fun at our station today. We kept ourselves entertained by blue flagging Duno basically every lap. She ran at her ability level absolutely all day long and she was four laps down in what is basically a spec car. W - o - w.

2) Danica was underwhelming as usual though, to be fair, she does have one more IndyCar victory than I do, so perhaps I should not judge so harshly (yeah, I should).

3) The IndyCar officials we worked with could not have been nicer. They were impressed with the facility, crowds, and the atmosphere. They were glad to be here and hopefully will be impressed enough to keep coming.

4) The IndyCar race could've used a NASCAR-style phantom "debris" caution but I respect that they respect the integrity of the race. We could use a couple of passing zones; hopefully that will develop.

5) The Continental Tire Series race was full of carnage; basically every car had some level of damage at the end. I even checked my Tundra for damage before I left for the day.

6) A good time was had by all and no fire extinguishers were used at Station 10A so a good day, indeed.

[chuck schultz]

I'm glad I drove over there, walked around the park once, enjoyed enough of the race from near lot D to see Marco's big pass, and then drove home in time to see the late caution.

I'm happier that I got to flag the Saturday festivities, which kept my attention a bit better, despite the lower speeds (although they are about the same for all classes at 6, or 5b, as the case may be.)

BTW, Brian gets way too much TV time at these things. Last time, he was shrouded in fire extinguisher excrement and smoke, though.

[Cholewa]

This was the first professional race I've been to, and it was amazing. The rolex race was by far my favorite, not only because of all the p******* but the sound... *shudders* I just had a big grin on my face the whole day.

Indy lights and Indy was cool too, my girlfriend had a good time to my surprise, and requested we go to another race soon. Anyone up for Dega in October?

[rodhx]

Don't wait til October. I think Bobby Rahal's vintage racecar series coming to Barber in May will be a must see.

[Focus]

Thanks to The Birmingham News, I got to watch all the big races in the shade, and was right in front of the fence climb also! Continental was definitely my favorite, but all the races were good. I highly recommend camping out there at future big events. Indy Lights make excellent alarm clocks!

[slowautoxr]

Looks like there is a new fence up. I worked that station at the SCCA race last year. How does flagging there work?

[chuck schultz]

Remember, as an SCCA member, you can get into most any Club Race free and bring a guest, if you go through registration at the track, show your membership card, and sign the waiver.

Just to mention a few options of various sorts:

Next weekend - AMA Superbikes at Road Atlanta - http://www.roadatlanta.com/ev_ama.lasso

April 30-May 2 - HSR The Mitty - http://classicmotorsports.net/events/mitty-2010/

May 22-23, SCCA National, ProIT, PDX, TT at Road Atlanta

May 21-23, Bobby Rahal Legends of Motorsports at Barber

June 19-20, SCCA Double SARRC at Nashville Superspeedway

July 17-18, SCCA Double SARRC, Pro-IT, PDX at Road Atlanta

August 6-8, NASA Races and HPDE at Road Atlanta

September 3-5, SCCA Test day and double SARRC at Barber

September 18-19, HSR at Road Atlanta

September 24-26, AMA Superbikes at Barber

October 2-3, SCCA Crow Mountain Hillclimb

September 29-October 2 - IMSA Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta

October 8-10, Barber Vintage Festival presented by Michelin

October 15-17 - SVRA at Road Atlanta

November 5-7 - SCCA American Road Race of Champions at Road Atlanta

November 13-14 - PBOC Motorsports Races and DE at Barber

December 3-5 - NASA Races and HPDE at Road Atlanta

FWIW, I'd recommend going to a Saturday race at Talladega Superspeedway once, just to experience the spectacle, noise and some of the crowd before committing to a Sunday or a whole weekend

[chuck schultz]

How does flagging there work?

There's a hole cut in the fence, the same as some of the corners at Road Atlanta. You'll also see similar setups at street races, such as Long Beach.

[rodhx]

Charles, there was catch fence installed all the way around the outside perimeter of the track. There was no hole at 11, we just had to flag from behind the fence. My understanding is the new expanses of fence are temporary and will be coming down soon. I was behind the fence at 11 of Friday and Sunday but had a great unobstructed view from 4 for Saturday.

Finally found a decent pic of Helio climbing the fence with both Brian and I in it.

[slowautoxr]

The pic explains the real purpose of the fence.

[rodhx]

Yeah, thankfully that was the only purpose it served this weekend

[chuck schultz]

There was no hole at 11, we just had to flag from behind the fence.

I didn't notice that - station 7 had a hole to work with, and I think I saw at least one other, somewhere. . . Very odd. I would've griped about that, and I'm surprised the sanctioning bodies allowed it.

[rodhx]

I saw similar holes @ 2 & 3 as well. I watched the guys @ 3 on saturday and they had to come out of the station to get to the hole. We would not have been able to reach one from 11 either without staging a flagger by the fence.

On sunday I thought about walking down to the gap in the fence to flag but was afraid that would be too low to be seen effectively and that they would be expecting to see flags at the station like the rest of the week.

[slowautoxr]

I wouldn't think that flagging behind the fence would be nearly as effective.

So the fence is temporary?