Track and Race Etiquette lesson. Please enlighten me.

[BlackWolf]

When at the track racing, onroad or offroad, indoor or outdoor, what are you're views regarding how a person should carry him or herself while in the presence of other racers and bystanders?

Example: When your car lands on it's lid, should you yell at the marshall "HEY!, ..." or just assume that he'll see your wrecked car given enough time, etc..

What are your standings on frequency selection when sombody dosn't have any other frequencies to choose from if his 'clip' is taken?

How about observers. Should they keep quiet?

Other racers on the stand with you; Is it ok to use foul language if everyone else is?

Somtimes at the track, I don't know how to act.

Please use this thread to enlighten all of us on the unwritten and understood laws of RC that keep everyone happy, and to keep others on the track's premises from looking at you as if you were complete jerk.

What are some of your 'pet-peves' when it comes to being at the track with your fellow racers and spectators?

Please Advise! :)

[Grudly]

I'm still kinda new to the whole race scene, but I have a couple pet peeves...
Some of the local club races I've been to have a few people that take the whole thing WAY too seriously screaming at their pit guys and freaking out when something bad happens. Get a grip! It's just a fun little club race.
The thing that bothers me more though is when you have a marshal out there that'd doing a half assed job. So many times some kid will go to flip my truck back on it's wheels, and they grab it by like 1 front wheel and just throw it, thinking it'll land upright. I had this one kid do that five times in a row... each time he threw it and turned around and started walking back to his spot. I got lapped by two cars by the time he got mine going again.

[chizzler]

i ran into a marshall once and i felt really bad :(

i didnt see him and i was going full speed off a straight! ooops.

[Smitty]

I yell all the time. But its because I race nitro. If I didn't yell I wouldn't be heard. Most the time its just to ask my dad (who does the pit crew job) to lean it out a bit or take it off the track. To me yelling is allright as long as your not screaming.

[grandmasterofpool]

Is the 'ole jump pass considered bad track karma?

[Gutter Ball]

If my car needs to be marshalled and a marshall is on the way, I'll just wait (slow or not, afterall, it was my fault I need a marshall). If no one is moving, I'll yell "Marshall please!!" Or if I know the marshall's name, I'll say "Jim, help me out!". Frequency selection should be a no brainer. If the lower qualifying person does not have an extra set, OR all 3 of his are being used(it happened last race day), then one of the higher qualifiers should offer to change. Is it really THAT difficult to help a fellow racer?? At the drivers meeting, the person in charger ALWAYS says that "we're here to have fun". Well that poor guy didn't get to race because NO one that he was conflicting with was willing to change!!! Where's the fun in that? Spectators are going to make noise, you'll just have to ignore them. Most of our spectators aren't into RC so it fascinates them. "DID YOU SEE THAT!?!? WHOA!!! THAT WAS AWESOME!!" I think swearing is disrespectful. It distracts other drivers and there are kids around. My pet peeve is the "experienced" racers who think they are Kings. I almost got out of the sport on my first day! I was a marshall, an accident happened away from me, but that marshall was already fixing another car, so I ran over to fix the crash. I grabbed the first car, straightened it out, grabbed the second car, straightened it out. Then I hear "MARSHAll!!! YOU FIXED THE WRONG CAR FIRST!!!!! THAT WAS THE LEADER YOU JUST MESSED UP!!! WHY DON'T YOU PAY FREAKIN' ATTENTION!!! GEEEEZ!!!" :mad: that ****** me right off. I finished marshalling and started to pack my things. Then the leader of the race(great guy) came up and said "Don't worry about it, you're new, it's cool." So you experienced racers should help new guys rather than yell at them. Remember you were once a newbie too! Whew, long ramble...

[HauntedMyst]

Common sense and courtesy really prevail at the race track like they do any where else. When I am marshalling, I still wear my rainbow wig and hold the John 3:16 sign, I just hold the sign a little lower so I can pay attention.

Also, since I am one of the worlds worst drivers, I've tried to improve my driving skills a little bit so I only wreck near marshalls, that way they don't need to run so far to fix my car.

[primuswoostinkinhoo]

last time i raced gas truck someones son was marshalling and he was marshalling a tough part in the track, the large tripple. so some car didnt make it and was on its lid he ran out there to get it without looking and i was taking the tripple and plowed right into his hip and knocked him over, i felt bad and ****** at the same time there wasnt anything i could do to avoid it so i felt bad. but he also pooped out my ball cup and killed my engine without trying to fix it so i was a lil mad bout that like 3 times in the last week some new guy was marshalling gas and just shut my car down and didnt try to just pop the ballcup back on first. i could see shutting it down after trying but just shutting it off right away is not cool.

[TC3Racer]

what i hate is when people space off when they are marshalling. i have been watching a race and a car crashed RIGHT IN FRONT OF A MARSHAL and he was looking behind himself reading the posters. i wasn't even marshalling and i ran out and fixed the guy. i told the marshall to pay attention. i'm 13 and i haven't even been into R/C for a year yet, but i know that marshalling is important and that you gotta pay attention. this marshal was like 11 years old and i dont even think he was racing, it was his dad who was racing and he was taking his dad's spot as marshal because his dad was working on his car.

thats also happened when my car has gone into the boards and since you cant use reverse i was waiting for the marshal. then i see the marshal spacing off which is just my luck, and i'm yelling and stomping my foot and some guy working on his car in the pits notices and runs out and straightens my car. that cost me the win and put me in dead last. i was fumed. i went up to the guy... (who was about 25) and he got a talking. after that night i never thought i'd have the nerve to talk off some one who is almost twice my age and my size. lol. this whole message is just saying that you get really fumed when your car isn't straightened and that marshalls NEED TO PAY ATTENTION!!!

[XXXER]

Okay, firstly:

Yelling on the Driver's Stand does not only look professional, it also looks plain dumb, I mean, face it, if you are dead last, and crash, with no way of winning, what is the use of yelling? I wait for either the track director to call it, or the marshall to grab it. Never lose composure, it makes those new guys a little nervous, escpecially when you are screaming at them, and the track director is calling them. etc.

Swearing on the driver's stand, again, not to professional, I have been known to let a few slip, but they were under my breath, not so loud, that everyone in the pit, and their Mom has to hear, remember, there are children around, act like an adult.

Observers, part of racing, racing is 90% mental, tune it out, if you do not like it, I love when some buddies are yelling "C'mon Steve! You are doing awesome!" This is not golf, it is more like Basketball, like when shooting a free throw, you just have got to tune it out.

Frequency: If you do not have any others, ask the driver who is on your frequency if you can use it when he is done, be convenient, not a jerk, and demand he change frequencies right there, wait until he is done practicing, then ask if he can change, if at all possible.

TC3Racer, you are not impressing me, nor were you impressing him, most definately, instead, you showed how people that are teens, much like myself get branded as ignorant little punks, that do not care about authority, you could have talked to him, in a much more calm, adult manner, and I am sure, he would have understood, instead, he was wondering what the deal was, with a little kid, that could be so full of testosterone. You may consider apologizing to him, so that everything between the two of you is okay.

-Steve

[TC3Racer]

your right XXXER i shouldn't have lost my cool. we were just out there to have fun. i jsut loose it sometimes when i get fumed about that kinda stuff. and i didn't mean to try to impress anyone. when it comes to R/C i'm sensitive. when my car breaks an A-arm or a hub carrier and i'm out on the first lap i feel like i wanna go home. then the next race i do good and attitude can change really quick. after reading everyone elses posts about there bad marshalling experiences that got me a little mad and i lost it.

[beeper]

Some of you guys need to remember that the marshall is not there to fix you truck. If you wreck and pop a ball link he should run you truck to the side of the track where a pit man or such can pick it up. He can't take the time he it still out there to marshall other people not to fix you mistake.

[BadRacer]

Yeah, Beeper is right! I had someone yell at me while I was marshalling a rough part of the track one night after my race was over and the next one started, a min. into the race a truck fliped from a jump wrong and popped a ball cup off...I noticed it and with my fingers I pushed as hard as i could to get it back on. I finaly got it back on and place the truck back on track (im lucky no other trucks fliped during this). Im hearing yelling and so on...big deal.

After the race this little 13 year old looking kid is in my face yelling at me (what were you thinking you jerk you cost me the race) and with a simple reply I said, " I did you a favor". He keeps talking and my uncle steps in and says "he could of took it off the track and you wouldn't have been in the race at all". Here I am in a daze getting ready for the next heat race, which I thought i did the guy a favor and got the truck working as fast as I could.

When im racing i block everything out. Its just me and my radio and my eyes on the track. I love hearing the others watching go "did you see that", "number 3 is hauling", "that was an awesome flip"....and when you here people yelling your name it feel's good! LOL

Anyway be nice to the Corner Marshall's, they don't have to pick up your car when it's your fault or someone else's. They are there to help....simple as that.

Sorry about the book
Cris

[B3Tyler]

Track etiquette. Dont steal the freq clip, my friend waited 45 min because this jerk thought a fried diff was a little problem. Whenever I marshel I always try and fix the broken cars, usually its just a call cup that can be fixed. I dont like the marshels in on-road that throw your car down... Makes me mad.

[TC3Racer]

yea that happened to me once. a marshall picked up my car a literally threw it down and it landed on the right front, breaking an A-arm. he said that it broke when i hit the boards. even though i didn't hit the boards on that side. oh well i let it go. i have thousands of A-arms anyway! lol.

[2fast4u]

i hate it when i'm marshaling and the cars that are on there lids keep gunnin the throttle, i refuse to touch the car till he stops

[JP]

This has nothing to do with etiquette (wellm sorta), but it reminded me of it. Lol, about 3 years ago I was a noob at racing. And I kept hitting the best driver (crowded stand, he was next to me) in the face with my antenna. He got second "because of me" and I felt bad.

Then 2 years later (last year) I cought myself doing it again. Every time my GT would flame out and i run back on the drivers stand i would hit him (about 6 times). I dont like cramped drivers stands, they humiliate me :( I talked to him after the race, and he was cool about it. Said "I know, i did that once, but a lot harder to someone else; so im not holding anything against you."

[chizzler]

hey tc3racer donate some arms!! :D

[BlackWolf]

What are some things people do at the track that really annoy or tick you off?

Please advise me so I can avoid doing it.

Everybody here, please take note of the replies and commit the main points to memory.

[ 08-02-2001: Message edited by: BlackWolf ]

[BadRacer]

You know when your at the track and you see one guy reach and grab two Freq. clips due to his buddy eating a hot dog (or something else) and one of them being the one you needed. Thats really Tick's me off....the hot dog eating buddy could have got off his lazy hineparts to get the clip.

Another thing that really getts me is I see some Advanced guys with tons of Crystals on Millons of channels and he can't let the newbie have the Freq. Clip. I was once there. Help the New guy out.

Oh yeah I say.. I I say "Don't spill your pop on the Track"! Don't ask...long story! :D

[BlackWolf]

BadRacer said:You know when your at the track and you see one guy reach and grab two Freq. clips due to his buddy eating a hot dog (or something else) and one of them being the one you needed. Thats really Tick's me off....the hot dog eating buddy could have got off his lazy hineparts to get the clip.
Another thing that really getts me is I see some Advanced guys with tons of Crystals on Millons of channels and he can't let the newbie have the Freq. Clip. I was once there. Help the New guy out.

Yes, I've had this problem many times. It's good to know that I'm not the only person that gets pised off at the track!

[gubbs3]

You guys are all right to say someone shouldn't hog the clip. I haven't had experiences like that yet, the people on my frequency have all been very sociable and I was happy with waiting.

[draggerman11]

Wow! lucky him.. hehehe.

[TC3Racer]

when it comes to racing, i'm normally only mad when my car breaks. but about 3 months ago when it was my 3rd race and i was doing pretty good, this one guy kept knocking people out just to pass them. well my friend and i had broken 3 A-arms on that one night cuz of this guy. and apparently, because of him, the TC3 A-arms where out of stock in the hobby shop that is connected to the track. (i doubt it was COMPLETELY his fault for breaking everyone's A-arms but it sure seemed like it)so it is now the B-Main and me and my friend and battling for 1 and 2 cleanly. then this guy who comes up tries to take me out... i lift and he goes by cleanly. now theres still by friend up front who was still in the danger zone. i just kept up and drafted this guys tail all the way down the straight... getting him nervous so maybe he'll let me buy. then my friend leaves the door open on the inside and the guy takes it but still finds some way to hit my friend. well luckily he only brushed the boards this time, but the 3 of us where way far ahead. so he was back behind me trying to pass, it was on the second to last lap where the guy left the inside open and my friend took that and i took him around the outside. well the fact that he was about to get passsed around the outside was just to much for him and tried to wipe me out. well by the time he turned to hit me we were exiting the turn to the straight and he missed my rear bumper by about 1/4 of an inch and slammed into the wall. he broke an A- arm, a hub carrier, and a bunch of other stuff. my friend and i went on to battle for 1st and he came out on top by about .18 seconds. i didn't mind that he one i was just glad that this guy got a taste of his own medicine! so i'm just saying that if there is a guy that is purposely hitting people for position, either talk to him, or talk to the track director.