Dealing without a crew

Ray is one of the many prime examples of what is being said here. My last race at the Glen, I had a hub failure and my car came in on a flat bed. I was beyond exhausted that day (no sleep the night before sharing a small bed with son and wife, among other things). I was ready to put the car on the trailer and just relax. Nope. Ray and others told me to get the car up on jack stands. Without their help I highly doubt I would have been racing the next day. I had no crew to help me. Other than the several guys who weren't on my crew list and are fellow competitors, jumped right in to help. Now that's crew. ;) You'll be fine.
 
Being exhausted and trying to work on your car that needs major repairs or damage without help could be a receipt for disaster. Know your limits and hope you have someone like my friend Jim Locke. He can repair a Iowa Class Battleship and get it back into battle with a paper clip, sheet metal, tools rivits and duct tape. At one Mid O race I was knocked off into the tire wall by a GT1 car I was trying to pass on the outside of the carousel. Needless to say, the grass was wet and I damaged every corner of the car. I was going to put the car away but Jim with hammers swinging, duct tape and rivits had the car back to a car form. We had to even saftey wire the trunk down. I won both races and broke the track record that weekend too. There was no way I could have made all those repairs without Jim.....BTW Thanks again Jim.
 
I got my crew by posting to the local rallycross message board. You might find someone local who wants to get involved but doesn't know how.
 
You can make it through the race school solo... but it is a slam and does get hard. I have been without a crew almost every time at the track. sometime when I have a "crew" it is actually harder!

I have been very, very fortunate to have received very timely help from others on a few occaisons. I have found it good to help others where ever you can as it might come back around!
 
Most of my racing years (10) I have been without crew, until recently. The best advice I can give is have the car ready to race two weeks before you leave for the event. That way, when you think of something at 3AM in the morning, you can address it before you leave. The best race weekend is one in which you change tires and check pressures, ONLY:eclipsee_steering:Chuck
 
Paddock near cars like yours, preferably driven by co-dependents.
Try to make at least 2 friends-don't piss EVERYBODY off!

Worked for me-I drove my car to every NE race, usually alone with my wheelchair and had plenty of 'crew'.
All of who I miss.
 
Lots of great advice above.

I raced basically by myself in 04, and drive an oddball so there aren't any "like" cars around. Since then, I've paired up with a buddy and we share the work (we both drive, 2 cars). Much easier.

it's doable, racing without crew, but you have to be prepared and like Chuck says, make sure the car is ready to go a few days before the event at least.

pfcs said:
Paddock near cars like yours, preferably driven by co-dependents.
Try to make at least 2 friends-don't piss EVERYBODY off!

Worked for me-I drove my car to every NE race, usually alone with my wheelchair and had plenty of 'crew'.
All of who I miss.
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In the event you do get someone who's interested consider letting them use the car for an autocross or HDPE event. I've done it and the threat of damage is less than when you're racing, they used crappy old tires but weren't going to be in a position to notice. Cost to me was minimal since I was going to the events anyway. Made me feel really good about being able to help them out.

There is also something about having good food & cold beer that seems to attract people at the racetrack.
 
Two more thoughts:

Crew for someone else now or at least tag along to an event. That way you'll get a feel for what a race weekend is like and you'll understand whether you need a crew or not. Chances are you don't really NEED crew if your car is ready to race when it rolls off the trailer.

Do a pdx or track day with the car. Again, you'll get an idea of what it feels like to go from track to paddock to track. And if the car breaks you learn the lesson about preparation and it won't cost you much money. Better learn that lesson at a PDX that costs $200 than school that costs $1,000.

Oh, and on the third hand, my rule is that I never never never leave anything undone because I can "do it at the track real quick in the morning before qualifying". Need tires mounted? Don't do it at the track. Need brake pads changed? Don't do it at the track. The first time you leave something to do at the track you will learn the lesson the hard way never to do it again.

Definitely don't let lack of crew keep you away from the track. It is not that hard to get along without crew if you need to. Like several people have said, if you're not a jerk and you park near people in the same class/car as you, you'll have friends soon. They might laugh when they help you set the timing on the car but they'll be there.
 
Most of us crew for ourselves. I have paid friends to help for events that involved testing at a new track, etc. Big help, and I got more done, because I could concentrate all my free time on making the car and myself faster. It showed in the results.

One thing nobody has mentioned: Be physically fit. As in, ready to work at a fast pace, lifting, moving and doing things all day, in 90 degree heat. Most people need to do cardio workouts to be in that kind of shape. It will make you faster.
 
lateapex911 said:
One thing nobody has mentioned: Be physically fit. As in, ready to work at a fast pace, lifting, moving and doing things all day, in 90 degree heat. Most people need to do cardio workouts to be in that kind of shape. It will make you faster.
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+1

this is often overlooked. but seeing how some people dealt with the stupid heat we had at our races this year (100+ temps both times i went out) compared to how i felt...i think it was for sure an advantage.
 
I started crewing on RX7s in the WDC region when I was 13 - my dad's friends decided to go racing, and I started helping out at driver's school. at the time, I basically recorded times, tire pressures and temps, and gathered the stray air dam from the tower after it was recovered from the side fo the track.

byt the time I was 19, I would drive my van tot he track, sleep accross the road from registration, and use the mornign traffic as an alarm. if I didn't have work arranged ahead of time, I knoew wnough people that I could sign on with and just help out where I could that weekend, guys who showed up alone like you.

I moved south, met my current gang, and have been wrenching on their cars since. Dave sent me to driver's school in his BRAND NEW FP civic that I helped to build, and it was the scariest thing I've ever done (in WAY over my head)- but it gave me a serious appreciation for the car that I hadn't had at the time. I'm still in porcess on my car, and raced a bit in the IT civic since then.

point is - some of us really like to crew. there's somethign about the overnight thrash replacing motors at the track, or between weekends. we meet up a few days a week and work on the cars and hang out (well did, I had a baby). I'm sure you will find a good group with a simillar car as suggested, and you might want to consider heading out NOW to afew events and meeting them before you make it to the track as a driver. help them out, learn from them, and you;'ll likely find them helping you at your school and beyond.

aside from that, find some gearhead kid who's dad is your friend, and drag him along, he'll love it.
 
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