Schedule for Drifting at Import Alliance on Sat.

[J. Sharer]

Here is the schedule for those of you planning on drifting at Import Alliance.

BE AT THE TRACK AT 7:00 AM not 7:05

TECH WILL START AT 8:00 AM

DRIVERS MEETING AT 9:00 AM

HIT THE TRACK AFTER DRIVERS MEETING!

WE NEED EVERY BODY TO BE ON TIME. THE SOONER EVERBODY GETS THERE THE SOONER WE CAN GET TO DRIVING!!!!

sorry about it taking this long we've been trying to hear from IA on what our schedule is going to be like.

and to answer some question i've been seeing on other forums.

cage and firesuits for tandem
drifting sat only

[mobceo]

are you from TENNdrift or what ever ??

[revel]

Here is the schedule for those of you planning on drifting at Import Alliance.

BE AT THE TRACK AT 7:00 AM not 7:05....nevermind

TECH WILL START AT 8:00 AM....9:00 AM

DRIVERS MEETING AT 9:00 AM....9:40 AM

TRACK HOT AT...........10:15 AM

HIT THE TRACK AFTER DRIVERS MEETING!

WE NEED EVERY BODY TO BE ON TIME. THE SOONER EVERBODY GETS THERE THE SOONER WE CAN GET TO DRIVING!!!!

sorry about it taking this long we've been trying to hear from IA on what our schedule is going to be like.

and to answer some question i've been seeing on other forums.

cage and firesuits for tandem
drifting sat only

fixed for accuracy. nothing bad to say about TND at all...since they basically came, did tech, driver meeting, and that was about it as far as running the event. jeremy is pretty nice guy. byron and i chatted with him about some of the things we saw and thought.

basically it was actual NSS track workers running the show....and horribly. guessing this was probably their FOERST time running a drift event and i give them some slack for that (cant imagine its an easy thing to do by any means).......but i figured after about an hour maybe two they could realize how to run it smoother. seriously its not like they had to worry about watching the time for changing out run groups-there was only one consisting of about 22 drivers. those of you that have driven at nashville, or even seen the road course at all, know the setup...the NSS workers were waiting until the cars were off course and almost half way back to pitlane before sending the next car. even thought they got it there for a minute...waiting until the car made it thru second hairpin then sending the next one....that lasted for maybe an hour at best. due to the enormous gap between cars it would take well over 20minutes before you got to run again, sometimes longer if the NSS worker was busy trying to shove a rider on somebody or 'convince you' to run tandem (thankfully i dont think anyone gave into the tandem idea......it was only the cars with full cages). also due to the gap in runs i dont think people got more than 30 runs at best (they also shut down the drifting around 4pm).

i highly doubt i will attend IA for the drifting again. the car show was kinda humdrum, there were a few select standouts, over all it was a poorly run drift event with a cookie cutter car show.

good note is i never changed wheels the whole day. the feddies lasted all of 5 runs at TT3.3 and 15-17 runs at NSS and that was with me going for 70+ mph entries into the FOERST corner all day, and attempting to run aggressively on the rest of course as well. although i am pretty sure that 20min cool down between runs all day had a good bit to do with that. either way i think they may even last another 4-5 runs at turner or some other place where i need to run for the practice/experience.

[revel]

forgot to add that i wasnt pushing for runs all day. i went out and did maybe 5-6 runs and then went back in and hung about for 40min to an hour and a half before going back out. pretty sure most people got a fair amount of runs otherwise.

also the only people being asked to run tandem by the NSS workers were the cars with full cages, but everyone was being prompted to take riders.....and if they saw the same person in your car for more than 3runs they would ask if you would switch out your rider for someone else.

[AndrewC]

good seeing the DM guys out dur. thats pretty good your feddies lasted that long tyler! i think i made 10 laps on my feddy 235/40/18's @ 55psi before it had to be swapped out. my entries were further back than the "private day" @ ~80mph so maybe that's y.
hate to say it but... im pretty sure the workers for the drift part is TND(recognize them from last NSS parking lot event) and the line to start was almost unbearable.. it was highly annoying when starting guy was chatting with people when he should of already flagged the next person to go. i could not get the FOERST entry right for the life of me and the wait didn't help.
what was up with the drivers needing to pay an extra 10$ to enter after we already paid to drive??

[racedaygraphics]

Sorry to dissapoint you revel.

It was my track workers running the event. The NSS workers were not involved at all. It was completely our show. We thought it went on without a hitch. It's a lot of ground to cover with safety workers. Everyone behaved great! We only had a couple delays for breakdowns. I thought it went good. More importantly, Rick at the NSS thought it went good so we'll be going back to the NSS in the future! We're very happy about that.

We learned alot about trying to have a drift day at the NSS. The most important thing we learned is that the course is way too long for most drivers. There were exactly 4 cars that had to power to drift the FOERST corner. The rest of the cars could have started a lot closer to the FOERST hairpin. That would have alieviated a lot of the problems.

We did have some long lines. We did the best we could for the FOERST time being there. Maybe we'll try run groups next time.

[P.Haire]

UGH.

[racedaygraphics]

Since I've never tried to do run groups or been to an event to observe, help me out.

How many cars should be in a run group and how long should each run group be on track?

Should it depend on the car count? Should there be a minimum amount of cars to have run groups at all?

Trying to learn to put on better events for everyone.

[racedaygraphics]

Should we have sent the next car as soon as one cleared the FOERST clipping point? That would have sped things up but what if he spun in the next corner. We just didn't think that would allow enough time to get him out of the way. We didn't want anyone to crash.

Next time we'll speed things up.

[ChadMK4]

You tell people (even though you shouldn't have to) to use common sense when on the track. As with most racing, you look at the next turn as you're coming out of the one you're in so you can get setup in time. That also gives you a heads up as to whats ahead on the track. Basically, tell people to use common sense and don't run into other cars on the track. Don't drift by them or speed by them. Just go around and continue on the course.
With that set up you could've easily sent the next car after the FOERST car had cleared the FOERST turn. If someone spins, the next driver should be able to see them in time to let off and go around.
If you don't want to count laps per car, you can even out your run groups and just go for time. Your run groups shouldn't be anymore than 10-14 per group. You could run for 25-30 minutes per group.
You should also implement the 2 spin rule. 2 spins and you should drive, not drift, off the course.

There are a ton of things to help speed up the event and give everyone what they paid for and hopefully get 30+runs per driver.

I'm sure that one of us that have been around for a minute can come up and help you speed up and keep your events safe.

[P.Haire]

if you want help for the next NSS event i'll be happy to help. just let me know way ahead of time so i can plan for it.

i want drifting in TN to be the best it can be.

[racedaygraphics]

That sounds good. We'll do that. I may try to have something out there in the fall. I have a contract with the fairgrounds through October. Maybe after that we can talk about going back out to the road course.

You guys need to try the fairgrounds. Everyone seems to enjoy it. Lot's of seat time for not much $. Come on out!

And, thanks for offering to help out. I can always use good advise. I can always use constructive critisism. I just don't like jabs. I think if we all work together drifting in TN will be better for it.

[down_shift]

Don't discount Tyler's (Revel) comments as "jabs". I was there and agree with his comments. The event had major room for improvement. With some guidance you guys can get these events into shape quick. Take Patrick up on his offer, but listen to Jeremy too. He has a good understanding of what needs to be done to improve TND's events.

There is a Southeast Pro AM scheduled for Oct. 16th but you may be able to work in a public day before the track closes for the season. Just keep an ear out to whos doing what, where so as not to double book/over extend the driver pool. Personally I have no interest in the fairgrounds due to distance. If I was a local I'd probably try it out.

[racedaygraphics]

Yea, you're right. Chad had a good idea too.

Next time we'll send the next car after the car on track clears that FOERST hairpin. If he spins, the next driver will just have to miss him. I guess that's the best way to keep things moving.

If I can get us in before October, you guys in? I'll need a pretty good car count to pull it off. Rent at that place ain't cheap! I'd like to keep driver registration under $100 so we'll need at least 25 cars to cover rent and insurance. This time you won't have to worry about that extra $10. That was just IA's way of making sure nobody snuck in.

[mobceo]

Since I've never tried to do run groups or been to an event to observe, help me out.

How many cars should be in a run group and how long should each run group be on track?

Should it depend on the car count? Should there be a minimum amount of cars to have run groups at all?

Trying to learn to put on better events for everyone.

this statement pisses me off so fu@#$% much !!!!!!!!!!!! are you really asking these questions??? If you have never been to an event with run groups... then you have never be to a properly managed and staffed event. Also, your other statement about the starting line and the track.....there have been events on this track and there are alot of videos out there. Drivers must do their own research about the venue the they are about to drive at or on! Oh....and your driver list and advertising promotion for this event SUCKED OUT LOUD.