From what I've read, a lot of you had a fun out there. But we realize mistakes were made and we need feedback to make the next event in June better. So if you guys can take a few minutes to put up some comments that would be great. Below are some topics we are particularly interested in.

Course - How did you like the course configuration? We know we had issues on Sat and tried to rectify things on Sunday.
Registration - We know we had a bit of a line at registration, was anyone upset with the process? Any suggestions to make it go smoother?
Working the Course - We know we had a lot of novices out there working the course for the first time, any issues working the course? We also had some issues with people leaving early and not working, did you feel there was any miscommunication?
Advertisement - How did you hear about the AutoX event? We are just curious because we tried to get the word out by using fliers and radio advertisments thanks to NAPA.
Misc - Any general thoughts that I forgot to cover would be appreciated.

Try to get some word over into Williams if you can, I've got quite a few friends over there that probably would go if they knew about it. Check with the Carquest there in Williams, and see if Terri, the owner, might be interested in putting up a flyer. Also the Safeway in Williams may be willing to put a flyer up. Heck, I'll talk to my dad who works for Williams PD and see if they might be willing to help get the word out.

Course -
Small lots are tough. The courses were good. I had an idea that would create more work for you folks but --- If you chalked two different courses in the morning and used the lunch break to move the cones from course 1 to course 2 I think that would solve the tar problem. The best morning time plus the best afternoon time would be a driver's time. Lot of work ???? A slalom would be nice -- of course I drive a Miata LOL. Having the grid where it was on Sunday was a good idea. Until you get a really good feel for how long (time) courses in the lot are going to be I'd recommend letting someone drive it. I realize that most SCCA folks would think that is an unfair advantage but if you get 8 (or 4) runs then one more isn't going to make a big difference. Think about laying out courses where you can launch the 2nd car after the first car has been on course for 20-25 seconds. Once again the lot makes this tougher but it's something to think about. Get something to keep the timing lights from blowing away.

Registration - My co driver registered while I was getting tech'd so I have no idea what registration looked like BUT. Offering a discount for pre-registration online seems to help at the Phoenix events. Multiple registration lines usually help. Pass out several clipboards so that people can have their info filled in before getting to the paying part.

Working the Course - Course workers need to have radios. There were missed cones. There were cones out of boxes that didn't get fixed because the workers missed them and then couldn't be contacted. As part of the novice meeting there should be a tutorial about how to work the course. Watching behind the car, how to report cones, how to flag, etc. A list needs to generated so that you know who worked and who didn't. I ran with a region that had people sign up for worker positions as they finished registration and then held them accountable for showing up at the right work spot at the right time.

Advertisement - See if the NAPA stores in Chino Valley and Prescott would put up flyers. I would check in Chino Valley and Prescott if someone sent me a couple of flyers (physically or electronically)

Misc - The worker controlling traffic across the lot needs to know what the rules are. If the car that needs to cross is a participant at the autocross then waiting 15 minutes would be okay. Obviously the folks that are going to some other ASU sanctioned event need to NOT be held up very long. We don't want complaints. Move the PA over to the grid. Set up an easy up over the timing table so the timer is easier to see. Figure out a way to get the results posted sooner.


I really enjoyed the event and think you did a great job. I'm sure that most of the stuff I put in above is already on your list as you seem to be working on this in a very positive manner. I'm going to miss the June event but I'll be there for July.

Thanks for a fun event.

I think the organizers did a good job. Most things went pretty smooth. There were issues and you responded with fixes, which is better than I've seen in a region I won't mention by name.

Course - Saturday's course was a little tight for the altitude and resulting loss of power at low rpm in second. I'm less fond of courses where I'm ever tempted to go back into first. But it was a challenge, and that's what I like best about this sport. Sunday's course was big fun.

Registration - All regions I've been to have a line at registration, ya'll did no better or worse. Tech inspection would have gone faster with two inspectors, but it wasn't too slow.

Working the Course - I was glad to see a mix of experienced and rookies at the station, I hope that was intentional. One of my issues with course workers in many regions is they clump up where the spare cones are and talk and thus miss cones. If I ever run the show I'd have them spread out.

Advertisement - I heard about it on azsolo.com. For future events you could post a request to have people post the event details on the non-SCCA forums they frequent. Boards like Miata.net and SpyderChat.com have thousands of members nationwide and probably some in northern Arizona. I expect other marquee specific boards to be similar.

Other stuff. I worked waivers and there were times when two workers wasn't enough. Between drive by spectators, Frisbee golf participants and university employees there was a lot of traffic. It would go better if each worker had 2 (or 3) clipboards so a clip board could be left with a car while the worker went to the next car in line, or multiple people in a car could be filling out the form at the same time.

Somebody mentioned changing the course for the afternoon. I don't know how easy that would be to design but implementing would go fast if ALL the drivers were required to help move cones, sweep, chalk cone boxes, etc. Shoot, you could even ask people to bring their own brooms. Downside to two courses is more work for line repainting afterwards and the extra time needed for walking the course again. Maybe people would be willing to trade fewer runs for a different course in the afternoon.

Low power FRS radios are inexpensive, often less than $20 for a pair. I don't know how many can share a channel, but it could be a solution to not enough radios. I have no idea how durable they are.

Course - courses can always be reversed for an afternoon run. i agree that Saturday was a little tight, but still fun, except for that finish. running that one in the opposite direction would have been good, and helped a lot! Sunday's course was just awesome! and using the asphalt for grid was way better. with the lot greasing up as the sun cooks it, a different course, or a few changes might help, but not sure about that. with the 11 o'clock rain we will get in the next couple events, i wouldn't worry about that, as it was not a factor last year, that i recall.

Registration - waiting in line is typical of registration, pretty much anywhere you go. (especially at a National Tour event!) patience is a virtue, they say. you could always have two workers; one doing pre-reg, and the other doing on-site registration. and make sure that on-site people have their form filled out before they reach the front of the line. explanations and such, for newbies, should be handled by someone other than the form processor/money taker.

Working the Course - watch the cones, not the cars. i will admit to missing a few myself, but other people picked up on them (thanks, Brian W!). it is a good idea to mix experienced people with newbies, so that they can learn what to do. also, RUN to the cones, not sidle up and mosey. if there had been two cars on course last weekend, there would have been more re-runs and workers in jeopardy. the timing seemed to work out, though, so one car on course is fine, considering the number of entries. agreed that at LEAST two people at Waiver would help. i was SWAMPED on Sunday, and happy that Mark A came out to help, and also Mr Plow. we got a second clipboard, eventually, but it was a nightmare for a while.

Advertisement - azsolo.com forums is the best way, as most of our participants frequent this forum. miata.net (i'd be glad to post there for you) and other places will help too, as well as sccaforums, las vegas forum, etc. i would think some flyers at NAU might draw some folks, and/or a notice in the local paper or the school paper. anything that is free is good in my book!

Misc - you guys did a GREAT job in handling issues. i know it was a lot of work, and a lot of people stepped up and pitched in. that is what is so great about the people around this sport! the issue with losing timing lights will be taken care of, i am sure. otherwise, it was a fun weekend. see you all in June and July, for sure !!!

Everyone else has given really good feedback. I would add that it would be very nice if your results were broken out by class, and sortable by PAX or raw times. The current results will become extremely annoying to read as your number of attendees climbs.

Thanks for all your work putting the event on, as long as I get the car running (some exhaust leakage that needs welding) done in time, I'll be back in June.

Also, a results oddity - on Saturday, I only show 3 runs, and I know I took at least 2 runs after lunch. They weren't any faster than my morning runs, so in this case they don't matter, but it's odd that they are completely missing.

Thank you all for the input, keep it coming!


I did add some additional formatting to the results and am working on adding sorting by PAX and raw times.

We will look into your missing results Brian.

We have a large number of people who entered the wrong class for their car and are talking about whether we are going to try to fix them all or only the people who placed at the top.

I think my afternoon runs got placed on Steve Steele, who had left the event at lunch. He as A14 and I was A15, if I remember correctly. Both CP camaros, so a fairly easy error for the scoring table to make.

Possibly look into some way of incorporating the actual car numbers (when available) for easy identification. Both of our cars have large, easily visible numbers on the side, but I know that is not true of most cars at the event.

Since you are really creating/revising the Flag autocross world. I'd like to make a suggestion that will be considered heresy by many from Phoenix but what the heck. At many regions and at all national level events solo cars are required to have a class and a number in that class clearly displayed on the side of the car. For example, my car has CSP 30 on both sides. It would be great if we could reserve a class and number for the season. I realize that it is somewhat dependent on what your timing system will support. I'd be surprised if the Race America system doesn't have some software to support the SCCA model along with software to download the results to a PC. It might even make figuring out season results easier. Just something to think about. It definitely makes it easier to make sure which car got which cone, etc. If the software from Race America is really expensive (and it could be) I'd be willing to write some.