"Taste of the Track" at AX events?

[ttweed]

I know the Zone and region rules allow for a "Taste of the Track" experience, and we have even had them at TT events, but are we allowing them at AX events? Is this up to the discretion of the chairs? What is involved as far as the entry fee for a non-driving participant, and what other requirements would they have to meet to ride along with an instructor at an autox? There is some mention of attending the driver's meeting and any other required activities of a driver in the rules--does this mean they would have to work corners as well?

Just trying to find out for a friend who would like to see what an autox is like from inside my car sometime, perhaps.

Thx,
TT

[JERRY B]

Ok with me, How about a $25 fee as required by the rules
They could corner work with the driver, And attend the drivers meeting

[JERRY B]

ANYBODY WANT TO DO THIS ?

[Steve Grosekemper]

Jerry sent you an email

[Bill Behun]

Tom & Jerry - (Tweed and Bumpus -- not the mice!)

The AX team ran a taste of the track at the Other Car AX last December. Kim Crosser helped with the research on this and the following is the pertinent info that was posted on the forum last Dec. 2 regarding the event.

Taste of the Track rules: -
A “Taste of the Track” program may be implemented. This will allow a person to ride in the passenger seat of an instructor’s car during a run session. The participant will register for the event, pay an entrance fee, and sign the insurance waiver. The Event Chairperson must approve all participants and instructors for this program.

Participants must wear shirts, short or long pants, closed toed shoes/sneakers. Participants must wear approved helmets.

Participants must be at least 18 years of age and be in good mental and physical health. However …..
16 and 17 year olds may participate according to the rules of the Junior Participation Program. The JPP program is documented in the Region Procedures Manual.
For 16 and 17 year olds, go to Minor Assumption of Risk Acknowlgement on the IMPORTANT FORMS page of the club website for more info and fill out/sign the form and bring it to the event. BOTH parents must sign the form even if both parents may not live in San Diego, are separated or divorced. Also see the FAQ (frequently asked questions) on the PCA National website for more info. At least ONE parent must be present at the event.

I think it's a great idea. Let us all know ASAP as I now have an interested friend too.
Bill

[ttweed]

ANYBODY WANT TO DO THIS ?

I'm definitely planning on it this Sunday. I invited a friend to ride with me (so please don't assign me a student, too, Joel!) and tried to pre-register him and pay the $25 ahead of time, but pre-reg has no process to do this yet, so I'm just going to bring a check to the trailer. He is not a minor, so won't need his parents to sign the waiver.

He said he'd show up in plenty of time for the driver's meeting and I have an extra helmet for him, so I think we're good to go, eh?

Thx,
TT

[Don Middleton]

ANYBODY WANT TO DO THIS ?

Jerry, I definitely feel we should prompte the Taste thing more aggressively. Giving someone a 3-lap ride for $15 would be fairly attractive. I don't know where the $25 rate comes from, but it could be a little much. But, I guess it depends on what they get for their money. If we are going to do it, we should make it attractive. The Taste, if promoted, could enhance membership, PDS attendance and AX.

[SDGT3]

ANYBODY WANT TO DO THIS ?

Jerry, I definitely feel we should prompte the Taste thing more aggressively. Giving someone a 3-lap ride for $15 would be fairly attractive. I don't know where the $25 rate comes from, but it could be a little much. But, I guess it depends on what they get for their money. If we are going to do it, we should make it attractive. The Taste, if promoted, could enhance membership, PDS attendance and AX.

I agree with Don. $25 for a few 80 second laps and corner workering duties? No thanks. You capture more flies with honey than vinegar. If there is a fee, if any for the wrist band, then charge that to the passenger for "insurance purposes", but otherwise, make it as fan and potential member friendly as possible.

[Mmagus]

ANYBODY WANT TO DO THIS ?

Jerry, I definitely feel we should prompte the Taste thing more aggressively. Giving someone a 3-lap ride for $15 would be fairly attractive. I don't know where the $25 rate comes from, but it could be a little much. But, I guess it depends on what they get for their money. If we are going to do it, we should make it attractive. The Taste, if promoted, could enhance membership, PDS attendance and AX.

I agree with Don. $25 for a few 80 second laps and corner workering duties? No thanks. You capture more flies with honey than vinegar. If there is a fee, if any for the wrist band, then charge that to the passenger for "insurance purposes", but otherwise, make it as fan and potential member friendly as possible.

+2 on $25 being too high

$5-$10 would be a good range. I have several JPP folks who have expressed interest as well as some adults, at least two which are on the bubble about buying a Porsche and getting involved. This could also be a way to include students who come through the Teen Survival Course and express interest in getting more experience. Active Military personal should have a fee of $.05!

[jenniferreinhardt]

How about 5 cents per lb?

Seriously though, I think this would be something that could be offered a few of times a year and hyped that way - like Back to School Night! Instructors are already busy with their students.

[ttweed]

+2 on $25 being too high
$5-$10 would be a good range.

I agree that $10 would be a more reasonable rate to charge for an Autox "Taste of the Track," considering that even if the person stays all day (which my friend is intending to do), he will only get 12-14 laps, or maybe 16-18 minutes of seat time, even including taking him on my timed runs (I'm running in X this weekend, so I don't care about the extra passenger weight slowing me down). Jerry said $25 when I asked and he's the event chair, so I'm not inclined to argue about it. I was just going to maximize my friend's $$$/enjoyment ratio by taking him along in every session.

If you look at the "T of the T" program for Time Trials that we have had, I believe the "ride-along" paid $50 to participate, which is about one-sixth of the usual $300 entry fee for the weekend. $10 would be about that same ratio of the $55 non-member pre-reg rate for an autox, so that might be fair, I don't know. I do know that if we were going to promote the idea, we should develop some kind of pre-reg process to make it easier on the reg team, and since only instructors can carry passengers, the impact on the student training capacity would have to be considered. We are sometimes hard-pressed to find instructors for every student who wants them on a given day. If you added, say, 5 or 10 "T of the T" participants, the instructor corps would be depleted considerably, at least in the "student rides in the instructor's car" part of the deal.

Just my $0.02, and worth everything you paid for it,
TT

[mrondeau]

Just my $0.02, and worth everything you paid for it,
TT

Tom, In today's market, that's a bargain at twice the price.

[Dan Chambers]

... I invited a friend to ride with me (so please don't assign me a student, too, Joel!) ....TT

Just a heads-up reminder: Pre-registration does a lot of the assignments for Students and Instructors ahead of time. If you are an Instructor and plan on not instructing for whatever reason, please be sure to make a note on your pre-registration data through MotorsportsReg that you cannot/will not instruct. There are two places you can do this: checking the "No" box where it asks if you will Instruct, ... and I also make a note to the Registrars in the box at the bottom of the page ("Special notes to Registrars") to emphasize that I cannot Instruct. You can also send an email to the Q Registrars requesting an "Opt-out" for Instructing (see contacts page for the right email address).

I know, it seems like a lot of hassle to "Not-Instruct," but the Registrars really have their hands full with all the Students/Drivers requesting instruction, and they need all the help we can offer them... like extra reminders.

Thanks for listening ...

[jenniferreinhardt]

If pre-registration is not necessary for insurance purposes, why pre-register these people? The pre-reg team is super busy too. They could sign specific waivers the day of the event and be on an availability basis based on Instructors available after full price students are taken care of, and those willing to have them ride along. Again, all the more reason to offer this only a few times a year if there is a lot of interest.

[JERRY B]

We can make it $20 with free helmet rental, That is a very good deal. There is a lot of paper wok involved in this. I just hope that this does not cause a instructor shortage for our students.
Jackie please post how you would like to handle payments