# 9/22 DC Area Autocross @ Fed Ex



## magnetic1 (Jul 1, 2002)

http://www.autocrossers.com/cgi-bin/WDCR6.pl 
:thumbup:


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## CD-55 (Dec 19, 2001)

"This event has 6 groups with 50 cars per group. Each car will get 4 runs."

300 cars with 1,200 runs. THAT IS INSANE, THEY WERE EVEN CRAZY WHEN IT IS JUST 250 CARS WITH 3 RUNS! I heard they were running 2-hours late at the last one... I am not going to bother this time.

It just looks like 5 hours of standing around waiting to drive for 4 min. 

The pre-payment of $30 bucks is also pain  I never got refunded from one I had to cancel after my wreck 

Maybe this post should be moved to the flame board:angel:


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## JST (Dec 19, 2001)

CD-55 said:


> *"This event has 6 groups with 50 cars per group. Each car will get 4 runs."
> 
> 300 cars with 1,200 runs. THAT IS INSANE, THEY WERE EVEN CRAZY WHEN IT IS JUST 250 CARS WITH 3 RUNS! I heard they were running 2-hours late at the last one... I am not going to bother this time.
> 
> ...


I hadn't done the math. That is nuts. And I am also pissed off about the whole pre-payment issue, and the fact that refunds are not possible even if some fairly valid reason appears for skipping the event (such as not having a car, or not wanting to stand out in the rain for four hours).

While I am enticed by Clyde's very positive review of the past two courses at FedEx, the lack of certainty about whether this course will be good (the course at the last event I went to sucked bad, even aside from the totalled M3/Porsche problem) coupled with the pre-payment and time commitment make me think I'll sit this one out too. With two events the same weekend, the smaller, friendlier event at Rosecroft is the one to go to, even if the Rosecroft lot is slicker than my lawn.


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## magnetic1 (Jul 1, 2002)

The reason for the pre-payment is the cost to obtain the Fed Ex lot. The Rosecroft lot is MUCH cheaper to rent. 

If it rained and everyone decided not to come like you said.. they would lose thousands of dollars!!!!

The last event was a mishap... I was surprised at the long delays as well.. but having hosted an autocross... sometimes things are out of your control and you make the best of it. Would you have rather had them cancel a heat? That wouldnt be fair...

Last event they had 4 runs... and I think that may have been cause for some delays... most of the issues came from those damn go karts since no one else could run while they were on... They SHOULD have had all the go-karts run either at the beginning or end... 

Our team is looking for an alternative site for our last event... and we are seriously considering the Six Flags lot... nice big lot


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## JST (Dec 19, 2001)

magnetic1 said:


> *The reason for the pre-payment is the cost to obtain the Fed Ex lot. The Rosecroft lot is MUCH cheaper to rent.
> 
> If it rained and everyone decided not to come like you said.. they would lose thousands of dollars!!!!
> 
> ...


I don't mean to slag the WDCR SCCA or anyone involved in putting on the events. I think they've done a very good job expanding the attendance. I also understand the reason for prepayment; if I were running an autocross, I would probably seek to institute the same system.

However, all of this has been done in pursuit of hosting the events on a big, expensive lot. The big, expensive lot is cool, but (for me) it's not cool enough to justify all of the tradeoffs. Rosecroft is a crappy lot, but it's still fun to run on, and if the lower cost of Rosecroft means I don't have to prepay, can decide to bag the event at the last minute if something else comes up, and I don't have to wait around as much, those sacrifices are worth it to me.

Also, any money that I keep out of the hands of Daniel Snyder and the Redskins is money well spent, IMHO.


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## magnetic1 (Jul 1, 2002)

lol. True that.

They have been looking for many lots and still are... I like FedEx or any big lot, because the course designed has much more freedom to design things. On a lot like Rosecroft, youre severely restricted to what you can do.

The Fed Ex events are much faster and challenging than anything at Rosecroft. 

We have also been looking at other sites besides Rosecroft and 6Flags for out 11/17 event... which also include the old Harry Grove lot... we hate Rosecroft as much as anyone else.. that freakin lot eats up a load of tire...


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

magnetic1 said:


> *The last event was a mishap... I was surprised at the long delays as well.. but having hosted an autocross... sometimes things are out of your control and you make the best of it. Would you have rather had them cancel a heat? That wouldnt be fair...
> 
> Last event they had 4 runs... and I think that may have been cause for some delays... most of the issues came from those damn go karts since no one else could run while they were on... They SHOULD have had all the go-karts run either at the beginning or end... *


I agree about the karts...they should have run at the end, but there weren't that many of them. It seemed like the real problems were from timing errors, failing to hold cars at the start after it was clear that the timing equipment was crossed up (causing more re-runs than should have been needed), plus course workers failing to notice downed cones.

When the afternoon group started 90 minutes late, they could have reduced the runs to 3 from 4.

Regarding pre-payment...what I keep seeing and hearing is that the pre-pay was to make registration smoother/easier/faster, not to protect them in case of bad weather. I wouldn't mind it so much if I didn't have to send a check...even a PayPal account would be a vast improvement.


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## magnetic1 (Jul 1, 2002)

The pre-pay was also to cut down in the registration process. Before, there would be huge lines of people waiting to check in, pay, etc... the pre-pay eliminated this and saved a lot of time.

I agree on the Paypal. I woul dbe willing to even pay the extra fees that Paypal charges ... but I think there is some rule in SCCA that forbids this form of payment.. so now, I just use my bank's online payment feature... have them cut a check and mail it...


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