…Or, things that I am thankful for for the last half of 2004. (I got to use “for” twice in a row in that sentence.)
VANCOUVER
When last I updated, I was on my way out the door to this one, and we were a little concerned earlier about the turnout opposite the ALMS race in Portland. I’m really thankful for the turnout here, despite that, and everyone did the fine work we knew they were capable of. Irene Chambers, Pam Stec, et al did a great job calling out their troops. The brave corner crew at T12 right in front of race Control almost came to grief when Bruno’s errant Lola tried to squash them, yet they persevered. They won’t be in harm’s way in 2005… the Champ Car schedule will not visit this town next year, ending a 14 year run. Molson, Olympic Games, the tight circuit – whatever we blame the reason on, I will miss one of the most romantic cities in North America next year.
ELKHART
Another race that isn’t on the 2005 schedule…yet. I say we see what happens here, as Elkhart, with us since my second year with the series in 1982, seems always to come back despite the adversities. I’m really thankful we had nice weather for a change here, and didn’t have to sweat out another go/no go decision.
DENVER
Another very well run event, and the new promoters had the crowd WAY up this year. Race control was in an uproar all weekend, situated on the top level concourse way up in the Pepsi Center with nary a window on onto the track (we were only about ten yards from the big pit fire last year.) The “Powers That Be” in Champ Car (always read this as our three owners, GF, PG and KK) dictated we should strive for less full course yellows, no closing pits, less use of safety trucks, and possibly delayed pace car dispatches while we all waited for the leader to pit or not. The drivers got a little wound about this (as did we in RC,) and foisted upon us a new flag combo for an extra layer of warning WHERE THE INCIDENT WAS before the pace car could get anyone packed up. I want to thank all of our flaggers and Marshals at this event for humming the tune along with us as we deployed the first “Seasoned Yellow Flag” - which was a waving yellow and white at the point of the incident. It worked fine for a while until the drivers all calmed down and forgot about it, and we quietly let it slip away in Australia.
MONTREAL
I’m thankful I know a little French. Again we were pressing on with using the safety team as little as possible, now at a track that was built with that strategy in mind. And boy, did our Marshals respond here in one of the best performances I can remember in a long time! The Circuit Gilles Villenueve is pocked with safe havens, and the ASRQ gang, always eager for an intervention or two, took up the slack and SAVED THREE FULL-COURSE YELLOWS, plus one in the Atlantic Race. Outstanding, outstanding. I’m also thankful I could shanghai Patrick Carpentier to stop by and say “Bonjour” to our Marshals on his way out on Saturday. Maybe you have heard, but PC has left us for the IRL, depriving me of my “go-to guy” whenever I needed a no-bull answer, observation or opinion from a driver. It used to be Gugelmin, then de Ferran, so now I will need another. Whenever you heard me talk about “A driver suggested…” or “I’ll check with one of the drivers...,” it was PC I went to for a good look at the situation. He was rarely critical of the officiating or the flagging, so whenever he was, I listened closely. I have a replacement in mind – but that’ll be my secret for now… au revoir, Patrick.
LAGUNA SECA
Yet another “last stop” it seems. I’m really thankful for the good communications in this part of the world. It was another weekend where we had all four of our series present, and we decided Champions in three of them. They kept us damned busy, and the opening laps of the Champ Car event were furious! Yet I always knew what was going on without having to refer to any TVs. I can also say that SF region has some of the QUICKEST communicators – As some of you know, back in Cleveland we got the idea of timing our course clearances around the course to see how fast they were traveling. The folks in Cleveland set the benchmark at 701 mph, breaking the sound barrier, and then Toronto, despite its twists and turns took it up just a few mph beyond that. Elkhart Lake, with its four miles of verdant straightaways and long yards in between stations moved the record up into four digits and cleared the course at over 1100 mph. We knew they could… but Laguna Seca shone as the communicators trimmed their course check down to the absolute bone and threw it around the course at an astounding 1725 mph. That may have to stand for a while. Thanks everyone for a superb job!
LAS VEGAS
Everything about this weekend seemed unreal – a night race, on Saturday, no SCCA presence, pairing with NASCAR trucks, an after-10 PM start time, all in the steady glow of that other-worldly capital of entertainment, Las Vegas. I am very thankful for our little group of 20 or so Observers that asked to be part of the weekend, and extremely thankful they were so on the ball despite so much uncertainty over this first-time event. I had never “organized” an event “on my own” before, and I have a new appreciation for what all you Flag Chiefs deal with year-in and year out! One of the weirdest occurrences in the history of the series unfolded before us on the first yellow, and we wound up with a “false leader” when car 8 took the lead by not pitting on the mandatory pit stop window. It took us a l o o o n g time to figure out how to “get out of it” upstairs, but the valuable and confident input we were able to garner from our observers led to us getting on the right track again. Thanks also go to Cole Bosanoz, my ace 16-year-old Recorder who reminded me (just as I asked him to) to flip the light switch from yellow to green on the last restart!
AUSTRALIA
I’m thankful for a few things down under. One of them is always just to be there, fer chrissakes. Another is the responsiveness of the Aussie volunteers. I asked, and they let me, hold an “American Style” briefing on Sunday morning as their stateside counterparts are used to, as the norm there is to hold separate briefings for the “Comms,” “Flaggies,” Trackies,” & “Fire-ies.” Yes, all together the sheer number of volunteers is staggering compared to the average marshal turnout in the US, but I didn’t think it would hurt anyone to hear about just what the other specialties had to be watching out for. I’m also thankful that I am understanding “Aussie English” a bit better, and vice-versa, and that people actually read and comprehend the Flagging Guidelines! We had a typical hectic lead-up to the start of the race, and I neglected to get through the entire pre-race instructions in time. I didn’t say a damn thing about what we want when there is a no-start, and when it went down, out came single yellow flags! Good on ya all!
MEXICO CITY
What a fabulous place to end the season. I’m thankful for the passion that our Mexican Marshals have for the sport, their track, their drivers, their city and their country. Despite the fact that a portion of it winds through a ball park, this joint is as “old school” as it comes. I’m thankful for Chris Kneifel and Beaux Barfield coming up with the wild-ass idea for the Clerk of the Course to go out on the racing surface to display the checker, and thankful that I wasn’t hit for the second year in a row. When Paul Tracy was reminded in the drivers meeting about how close he came last year, he replied: “I thought it was J.D!”
I’m also very thankful to our three owners that we even had a season at all. And… thankful it’s over.
ONE OTHER THING…
I must also lay out a word of thanks to the Marshal who volunteered for the most events this year, Melissa Harrington-Bosanoz, who made it to 11 of our 14 events. Melissa was presented with the autographed checker, our highest honor, after the race in Mexico City. I think back when Gordon Ensing was the Chief Observer, the prize for Marshaling the most races was you got to cut his lawn, so a slight upgrade there!
I will be blogging more in a day or three or four about some of the other things that are happening - for us and to us - in between seasons. Please have a look next week. Happy New Year!
See you at the track!
JHS
