NNJR's race
officials and specialty workers are an all volunteer work
force that operate behind the scenes and on the front lines
at all our races.
Our crews are recognized as
some of the best trained workers in the country.
It takes a small army of volunteers to put on a race
weekend, and the specialties range from behind the scenes
work at Registration or Timing and Scoring, to the most
visible specialties like the corner workers and emergency
crews. Want to get started but aren’t sure
where you will fit in? Read about each specialty below, and
feel free to contact the Specialty Chief for any area that
interests you.
Worried about
not having enough experience to participate? No experience
is necessary to get started. This is all on-the-job
training! We’ll have you working corners your first day, if
that’s where your interest leads you.
Imagine having the best seat in the house, mere feet away
from some of the fastest race cars in the world. And at the end of each
action packed day is an after hours social with drinks and
snacks, where you can relax and swap stories with race
drivers and your fellow workers.
Click on the specialty you want to
check:
Specialty Chiefs |
SCCA
Workers & Officials Programs
Getting involved as a worker or official is as easy as
going to a local event and volunteering to help.
Workers are issued a license just like the competition
drivers, and can work their way up through the four
levels of licenses by participating at different events
and gaining the knowledge and experience necessary to
hold a national specialty license. SCCA licensed
workers help staff most of the motorsport events held
in the United States in one capacity or another.
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FLAGGING & COMMUNICATIONS (F&C) |
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SCCA members
who volunteer for F&C have the second best seat at the event. They are the
communicators. They signal the driver of many different situations and
conditions through the use of flags. They are the eyes and ears
 of Control
and the Operating Stewards. The accurate, concise and precise information
they relay is the substance of good decision making by Stewards. They let
other stations know conditions and needed warnings for drivers.
F&C personnel are usually the first
safety responders to incidents. Their primary fire fighting skills are honed
at fire and rescue schools held by all SCCA Regions. They convey, often by
unique hand signals, what is needed at an incident. They recognize their
prime responsibility is for the safety of all concerned.
F&C people
are the witnesses to the facts and as such write the Witness Statements
needed for consideration by the Stewards. They must convey accurate
information from their perspective knowing that their writings may have
significant ramifications for competitors.
During off sessions they are the Sales and Marketing of the SCCA who invite
spectators to join in on the fun. They will share information to help the spectator better
appreciate the sport and more so the F&C aspect.
People of all walks of life come together in F&C
with a special camaraderie and sense of usefulness to the sport.
The F&C members are team players with many other
specialties that are all needed to make SCCA events happen. They weather the elements for the love of the sport and ensure the
safety of the competitors and other volunteers.
For more information on this specialty, please contact our Chief of Flagging
and Communications
Bruce Kolker
30 Heartwood Ln.
Trumbull, Connecticut, 06611
(203) 445-9188
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MEDICAL SAFETY & EMERGENCY SERVICES |
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Attention all
Doctors, Nurses, Firefighters, EMT’s, and Paramedics. Looking to get
involved in the action? Medical Safety or Emergency Services could be for
you.
Medical Safety is a specialty for medical professionals. There is always an
ambulance at the events. But in case of disaster, extra medical personnel
are
 always helpful. The Medical Safety personnel see everything from minor
cuts that just need Band-Aids to Medical Emergencies. Medical Safety people
can also do more then one job at a time. They can be Racecar drivers, F&C
workers, Paddock Marshals and even crew members.
Emergency Services (ES) does many jobs at once. Their main job is to
retrieve broken racecars off the track in a safe manner.
Sometimes the cars only need to be flat towed and other times they need to
be lifted off of tire walls or maybe even turned right side up. ES is also
trained to use the "Jaws of Life" and other driver extracting equipment.
This is why Firefighters fit into this job perfectly, since they already
know the ropes of extracting people from wrecked cars.
For more information on this specialty please contact our Chief of
Emergency Services
Jeff Burke
11 Pine Ridge Rd.
Califon, New Jersey 07830
(908) 832-2543
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GRID |
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In order to set a wheel on the track, racecars go though
the grid. During practice and qualifying sessions, each car shows up during
its assigned race group. Grid workers check for everything from safety
equipment to problems
 with the car. The grid workers pass along any track
conditions that might affect a driver, for example oil on the course. Before the
races, cars are placed in their spot according to their qualifying position
provided by Timing & Scoring. From the grid the cars are sent out to an
official on the track who will split the group into its two-by-two order and
send them off to the starter.
Grid workers get to mingle with the drivers
and crew. People who are very observant and aware of their surroundings make
great Pit and Grid workers.
For more information on this
specialty please contact our Grid Chief
Diane O'Connor
198 Glenside Tr.
Sparta, New Jersey 07871
(973) 729-2714
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REGISTRATION |
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It is early
morning and you can hear the birds beginning to stir. There is a faint glow
in the east showing a clear sky (meaning, thank goodness it isn’t raining).
You are heading toward the Registration building excited about
 meeting the
first person in line for the day. Maybe you will be doing Drivers and Crew
or maybe worker/official registration. Oh yes, don’t forget to turn on the
laminating machine for making photo-ID’s. How many other Registration
workers will be there? Last race we were well staffed but everyone still had
plenty to do. It is nice though, once in a while, to get a break in the
waiting line so you can get a refill of coffee or a soft drink from the
cooler.
Registration
is the first Specialty which an SCCA participant encounters on a Race
Weekend. Prior to the weekend, we process the competitors’ entries in
preparation for the Driver’s and Crew’s arrival, assign car numbers and race
groups and collect entry fees. Also, each person entering the race track
must sign the insurance waiver of liability and show his/her current
membership card and license. In this way SCCA ensures that we consistently
review the status of everyone exposed to the risks of our sport. In
addition, we account for the number of workers/officials at each event and
keep track of any monies collected at the track. Individual entry
information is passed on to Timing & Scoring, Medical personnel and the
Stewards as well as to Grid and Paddock.
While
Registrars are usually most busy in the morning when they first open, they
do not stay open all day long, so there is some time during the day to do
other things, watch racing, help other Specialties or just relax.
For more
information on this specialty please contact our Registration Chief
Terry Roberts
326 Old Mountain Rd.
Farmington, Connecticut 06032
(860) 678-8356
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SOUND CONTROL |
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Want to get
close to the action, but don’t want to be in the action? Sound Control could
be for you. Those who staff sound control get to be out near the track and
the action, but since their duty is to read the sound meter, they don’t go
out on the track like the F&C workers do.
SCCA Sound
Control Officials monitor the sound level of passing race vehicles during
all practice, qualifying and race sessions. These readings are logged by car
number and class every lap when the car is clear of traffic that could
interfere with the reading. Weather readings, Temperature, Humidity, Wind
Speed and Direction, Barometric Pressure and Weather condition are also
recorded regularly. Regular sound level meter calibrations are checked and
recorded. Cars that exceed the maximum allowable level are reported to the
operating Steward so that appropriate action can be taken to correct the
problem and allow the car to return to the track. Cars that are close to the
maximum level are advised so they may be adjusted, so that weather condition
changes do not cause the sound level to exceed the maximum allowed level.
These report forms are posted to allow the competitors to see their readings
and allow for changes to the car. The reports are also submitted to the
Stewards and forwarded to the SCCA National office for checking and record
keeping.
For more
information on this specialty please contact our Sound Chief
Joe Russell
720 Bound Brook Rt#10
Dunellen, New Jersey 08812
(201) 406-9368
No email address....
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START |
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Do you
like to tell others what to do? Do you like lots of attention and even TV
time? Can you keep track of several things at once? Start might be the
specialty for you. Start is a combination of some of the skills of Flagging
and Communications (F&C), some of the skills of Timing and Scoring (T&S), a
few
 new skills plus fast decision-making and its all done with everyone’s
attention on you! It’s fast-paced, never boring and yet very important. We
use all the flags that F&C does. Add in keeping track of the leaders and
number of laps completed plus they have a few flags all our own. It’s a lot
of fun and the best seat in the house to see the start or finish of the
race. The drivers might disagree a bit on that,
but they really can’t see as well as the Starters can.
Everything in
the F&C description is also true of Start. They use their flags and a few
signs as well to signal information to the drivers during the race. At some
tracks Starters even respond to incidents.
In their
traditional Black-and-White, Starters are visible even during their off
periods and become ambassadors for SCCA in the paddock and sometimes even in
the spectator areas. The camaraderie among starters is very special, forming
a nation-wide "family" of starters.
If this
sounds like something you would enjoy, come on out and join the fun!
For more
information on this specialty please contact our Starters Chief
Peter Watson
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TIMING AND SCORING |
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Don’t feel up
to braving the weather? Too hot, cold or wet outside for you? Most timing
and scoring buildings are heated/ air conditioned, to keep staff, papers,
computers happy and out of the weather. Working in T&S can be a very
rewarding job. You have first-hand knowledge of the running order, and are
responsible for producing the official results. There is a special
friendship among those in Timing and Scoring as they all work toward that
common goal - to make a race a race.
Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary defines a race as: a contest to determine the
relative speed of the contestants. "Timing and Scoring's function is to
report the race by recording each competitor's speed, scoring him/her
according to the number of laps completed, the order in which he/she crosses
the start/finish line, and by producing accurate results of this contest.
This is accomplished by the five groups, which make up Timing and Scoring -
Manual Timing, Electronic Timing, Scoring, Communications, and Results.
Manual Timing refers to the use of stopwatches to measure each competitor's lap times.
Each timer is assigned one or more cars, and records cumulative and lap
times for each car on time cards.
Scoring records the position of each car in the field by writing the car numbers on
a lap chart in the order they cross the start/finish line. The lap chart is
a visual record of the number of laps completed by each competitor and
his/her position within the running order at any time in the race.
Electronic Timing combines the lap times and field position. As each car crosses the
start/finish line, tapers manually record its number, and a timing device
electronically records the time. The car numbers and their times are then
entered into a computer, which calculates lap speeds, the running order, and
the number of laps completed.
Flagging & Communications keeps the timers and scorers informed of the status of cars
that are missing, and whether or not they will be returning to the track.
All this information is then passed to the Results team, which verifies the data and
compiles the official qualifying and race results. These results are then
distributed to the race officials, competitors and the press.
For more information on this specialty please contact our Timing & Scoring Chief
Linda Louie
15 Birch Terrace Montvale, New Jersey
07645
(201) 391-6925
(prefer email)
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PIT AND PADDOCK |
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At times, drivers see pit
lane as merely an exit ramp from the track to the paddock. Other times they
will stop in the pits for many reasons. They may be tweaking the car during
practice. Sometimes they need the help from their crew, for tire changes,
pulling off flapping bodywork, or, on occasion, removing that stubborn pylon
that got wedged up under the car. Sometimes it’s more serious. Drivers with
a fire will head for the nearest fire extinguisher, which pit has an
abundance. Pit workers monitor and assist every car that comes into pits, as
well as working the entrance and exit of pits, signaling the drivers so they
can blend in to race traffic without incident.
Bart Carlevaro
15 Birch Ter.
Montvale, New Jersey 07645
(201) 391-6925
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TECH INSPECTION |
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This is the specialty to work in if you want to get up-close views and
personal knowledge of some great racecars. You not only get to see great
racecars, but you get to meet some great drivers and crew.
As a
Scrutineer it is your responsibility to help the Chief Technical and Safety
Inspector (Chief of Tech) to perform the duties required of him. These
include jobs such as weighing cars, checking ride height, verifying engine
seals, issuing logbooks / annual inspections, writing up accident
investigations, and doing displacement and compression ratio calculations,
etc.
The job of a
Scrutineer is an important one that can sometimes be demanding. Our purpose
is to verify that the rules are being adhered to.
For more
information on this specialty please contact our Tech Chief
Bill Etherington
224 Nancy Ln.
Ewing, New Jersey 08638
(609) 406-9763
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STEWARD |
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Big brother. Make sure all the racers behave and we
keep to a schedule. Management of the operations of the weekend. |
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