Since I didn't have a set of wheels to run in the St. Louis Region's last road race weekend of the '04 season, I decided to put on a set of whites and work a corner. I've only worked a corner once before and oddly enough, it was at last years Spooktakular at Gateway. Last year was drizzly, cold and windy out on Turn 5. This year was spectacular (no pun intended). Even though the wind was a little harsh at times, the sun was warm and the racing was great!
On Saturday, I worked Turn 7 which is a hairpin left hander that follows a short straight and leads out to the NASCAR oval. I was stationed with Mike Lischke and Paul Hollingshead (both Veteran F&C workers) and another newbie named Don (I forgot his last name), a Kart driver who was very excited to be there. Mike and Paul were wealths of information and experiance. From their stories about working other tracks to teaching us various hand signals and techniques, their passion and enjoyment of corner working was obvious.
If you're a driver and have never worked a corner, or a spectator looking to get a little closer to the action, it is quite an experiance. From a drivers standpoint, it was interesting to watch the different lines people would take going through the turns. It was also interesting to watch people with the same vehicle (Spec Miatas, IT7's) take different lines and compare how fast they got through the corner.
Another aspect was to learn what goes on behind the protective walls and to learn from other drivers mistakes. Most of the day, I was the Blue Flagger (the “Check Your Mirrors” flag), but being on T7, we were also in charge of the Meatball and Black Flags. The Meatball Flag is to let the driver know that they've got a mechanical problem with their car and that they should pit. The Black flag is the “you've been a bad driver... report to the principle's office” flag. I was amazed at how many drivers missed the flags during the day, including the black flag. I was also amazed at some of the Bonzai moves and rules infractions that some of the drivers pull. Several FF's and FV's passed under the yellow after entering the oval with a car stalled at NASCAR 3. One IT car bump started himself while being flat-towed. A formula car wasn't using his brakes under flat-tow and almost ran over the strap which can cause all kinds of dangers.
It was a great experiance and I learned quite a bit that will hopefully make me a better, and SAFER driver. I truley enjoyed standing in the sun all day and it felt great to give a little back to the sport. I'm planning on attending the Crash Fire & Rescue School this coming Feb. 12th at Gateway and intend to work quite a few more races every year. It's almost as exciting as being behind the wheel, and way more satisfying than spinning 6 laps in and zinging a motor ;) !
Scott
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