Any corner workers here?

I've enjoyed it very much each time I've done it. Total fun to see each car and driver react to the same situations. Just keep hydrated and apply tons of sunscreen. Where you thinking of going?

 

Check this link
Pro Worker Application Process | Central Florida Region SCCA

 

Local PCA. They are a great group and have a good amount of autocrosses as well to fill the gap between track days.

 

Me? No, although I've helped out at some corners when they are short- Waterford Hills in Michigan.
My Spouse? YES. Totally involved. Devotee. Loves it. Antithesis of what she does every work day! Sights/sounds/smell/speed/personalities. Visual and aural. I support her over 100%.
She began five years ago, SCCA. She has trained, learned, and actively worked every major race category (no dirt track) except (of course) F1. She's most happy with this hobby, and I am, too! She has learned much more than I ever anticipated, and her enthusiasm is so refreshing.

 

Just twice. Aside from giving back to your club, its a great learning tool to see the lines and braking etc..

Just don't snooze out, or read a book, then after an accident accuse the first car you see to drive by after putting the book down of causing it. This happened to me....ugh.

 

That would be me!

I've been a part-time Corner Marshal (note in caps & sounds fancier than "worker" ) since a local track opened about 2 years ago, NOLA Motorsports Park - New Orleans, Louisiana race track, go karts, performance driving schools.

I regularly work NASA and PCA events along with track member days and the occasional bike event (e.g. AMA Big Kahuna). The facility also has a karting track though I rarely work that.

I'm actually working a PCA event this weekend. One of the guys that helped train me announced today that this will be his last year working track events...his first was in 1965!

We have a few old-timers that work with us and they have some great stories. Their track shirts are covered with various track/event patches like medals on military uniforms...great stuff IMHO.

The GOOD...I get paid to hangout around a track and watch cars, which is something I would otherwise pay to do...being part of the action...camaraderie with coworkers who are all motorsport fans, which is something I lack in my other social circles...training to potentially work bigger events/races (see below though).

The BAD...often the aforementioned "bigger events/races" require SCCA experience (which I'm not getting) and/or are volunteer events (which is counter to one of my original hopes of being a corner worker, err marshal as a way to help fund attending that particular race)...the days can get long (i.e. boring) for the less exciting events especially when it is basically a "for fun" second job and your weekend gets consumed.

The UGLY...weather and bugs...ironically in south Louisiana the cold days are far more unpleasant in the corner station than the hot days...the breeze/wind can be miserable and there is no way to get out of it, just have to layer on the clothes...mosquitoes aren't an issue for us (more irony) but bees and wasps are constant threats...rain is another annoyance.

All that said...I'm happily reporting to the track tomorrow at 8:15 AM...with a new can of wasp spray.

A pic from one of the cold but not miserably cold days...
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Hi Chas,

have you taken a look at the SCCA GCR regarding workers? There is a lot of great info there.

http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/assets/2013%20GCR-%20January.pdf

There are several updated versions but this can give you some ideas. I race with SCCA so that's all I know but compared to the trackday corner workers and safety crew I have experienced SCCA can't be beat. Not only do they have cornerworkers but so many other personnel like the emergency services people, fire crew etc. There are many hats you can wear. Our local SCCA guys are even the workers for the LongBeach GP. They are very professional and trained. So if you want to learn something and cornerwork seems like your local SCCA chapter is a great place to start.

 

Happy to help...you owe me a Schlafly or three!

This weekend's PCA event was typical and here's the basic schedule:

8:15 AM - Report to track control for meeting, station assignments, & radio
8:50 AM - Report to station
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Morning session
12:00 PM to 12:50 PM - Lunch
12:50 PM - Report to station (if left)
1:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Afternoon session
5:00 PM to 5:15 PM - Report back to track control to return radio and clock out​

The biggest difference b/w track days and races from a marshaling standpoint is the number of people working. Most events usually have 5 to 6 staffed stations with one worker per station. For the larger (in profile & car count) and faster events two or three more stations may be manned and there might be two workers per station (one to watch up track and one for down track). For AMA's Big Kahuna we had a 3rd guy in the station that acted as a "runner" to assist with downed bikers.

Another difference is the schedule. For some of the big events our report time might be 1 1/2 to 2 hours before first track action to help ensure everyone gets there and gets situated on time. IIRC for Big Kahuna I had to be there for 6 AM, which meant I left the house by 5 AM...ugh.

As for the morning meeting it is usually the basic stuff such as station assignments and a review of the schedule as well as what things to call in. For example, some events want us to report when a driver briefly goes "two wheels off" but other events only want to know when "four wheels off". For the big events a rep from the event might come and give a brief intro and re-enforce what they want us to report. The only time I've been asked to file written incident reports was for the big PCA event a few months ago that was run by the regional or national guys. All other times, including today's local PCA club event, we radio in the incident and track control is responsible for maintaining and filing the day's report.

We are usually allowed to leave our station (but not the facility) for lunch and we generally gather in the control tower. Most of the time we can drive to the station so its pretty easy to come and go. Occasionally the track van will haul us around because the ground around the station may be muddy and they don't want us bringing that mud onto the track with our cars.

My training probably isn't a good comp for you. I was in the first group trained and we had two sessions separated by a few months because of weather related track construction delays after the first session. Since the track was new there were a lot of folks to train and it ranged from people with zero experience and no motorsport knowledge to folks with decades of experience. Thus, the training took awhile to get everyone thru it. Most of it was classroom and then some on track simulation at the end of the day. The first event or two we were paired with an experienced marshal, which eased us into it. Given your track experience I'd think your training will be minimal and the only new thing to you will be the radio etiquette.

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One more UGLY...the headphones...after a few hours they range from very uncomfortable to painful depending on their age, the weather, and the toughness of your ears.

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Whew...after all that typing you owe me a 12 pack of Schlafly!

 

I came across this article a few months ago, How to become a motor sport marshal - F1 Fanatic.

 

Maybe I'll head to FL and you can buy me a Yuengling.

Funny you mention that. Years ago a former colleague announced he was quitting to become a fireman and I told him I hoped he was bored everyday at his new gig b/c that meant no emergencies!

As for marshaling, it really depends on the event and the elements (e.g. weather). I'd say for most events (e.g. member/club days) we are happy to see quitting time as it does get boring/tiring after several hours. That said, there is usually at least one or two cars that help make the day worthwhile. The larger events (e.g. races) are great fun and the time flies assuming the weather is good.

As Nike says...Just Do It!

 

My wife and I just last weekend celebrated our 25th anniversary of Flagging and Communications at race tracks.
We obviously love it, as a group we're always the biggest race fans.....and are the closest to the action without having to actually wear flame-retardant underwear ;^D
Learn the basic SCCA Flagging guidelines (you can get a lot of valuable information here, including a PDF of the F&C Manual- Michigan Turn Marshals - Reference Library ) and you'll be able to plug in at most racing events around the country with ease.
There are some Clubs (PCA comes to mind) that pay a small fee in addition to lunch to 'work' their events, but 99% of what we do is purely on a volunteer basis.

Hope that helps!
Brian
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Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.

New Acura NSX to run a lap before Indy car race.

Wifey flagging at turn 4 (your entrance to China Beach!) today. Dunno where yet for Sat and Sun - maybe she'll be a TV star.

 

Awesome!

During Big Kahuna I met a similar couple, might have even been ~ 30 yrs IIRC.

I wish y'all 25+ more!

Nice! I want an autographed flag.

 

Oh YES! But it would be a Bud sign from the ramparts of Mid-Ohio barriers........ I'm holding out for an Abita Brewing flag!

 

I worked corners, flags, & radio for SCCA from 2002 to 2005 to get an idea on how everything operated, also volunteered to be a corner worker in exchange for track time @ TWS & MSR with Ed Piaz Racing. Half a day of driving for half a day of work.

Excellent experience & met some interesting people over the years. This is also how I met Rob Lay @ TWS when I witnessed his friend Greg making contact with another car in turn seven & I was the only worker on that corner that saw it in order to call in the penalty. Great times.

 

I realize not many of you are Indy car fans...... but Wifey is the boss flagger at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course's Turn Two ("the Keyhole") today. Indy Car race coverage begins at 3 PM (EST) on NBC this afternoon with the race starting at 333 pm. That flagging position is inside the track with an awesome view of turns 3 and 4/the entire keyhole area.

 

I don't often visit this section; I must have too much time on my hands!
In the late 50's and the 60's, I joined the Long Beach MG Club, which supplied the corner marshals for all the sports car races in SoCal. It was a way to be "part of it" without spending more money than I could dream of to actually race. Through the years I watched all the big name drivers up close and personal (no better grandstand than right down in the corner) and it didn't cost me a penny. I even got a free lunch. In those days they had a system of rotating us between each race, so by the end of the weekend we had worked every corner 2 or 3 times. Yes, the bad news was when the wind or the rain showed up, or when it was unseasonably hot (is there such a thing in SoCal?). But that was nothing compared to the thrill of being part of the action. I wouldn't have missed it for anything!