gbuff

Right-seat with me at Mid-Ohio and I guarantee you will throw up

dgrobs

Lol. I don’t need to be in your right seat. I get queasy just being the car behind you.

Seriously, I would love to hop in your right seat. Let’s do that next season for sure. We can use the comms so you can hear me gagging. Lol.

That being said, you are one of the best drivers out there. You kinda have to be in that car. I have been impressed by your driving from the day I met you. Looking forward to right seating you anytime. Will be a blast I’m sure. I’m gonna hold you to that offer btw. You WILL take me out in your right seat next season. Take it to the bank.

gbuff

I was just kidding, but OK. Mid-Ohio in the rain

dgrobs

Dude, I would consider it an honor to right seat someone with your driving abilities. I’m sure I’d learn a ton from you. Can’t wait

991carreradriver

You may be right, the incident may be too fresh to tarnish a reputation but it does not help the brand. Personally, I didn't take it to heart, but some folks did, just ask Tom. The Sunday morning apology went a long long way in my view. I am fairly certain he got an "ear full" Saturday night at the Paul Miller dinner.

dgrobs

Thanks for that.
Unlike you though, I did take it to heart, and yes, Tom got more than an earful that night, as he rightfully should have. It’s unfortunate, because Tom is one of the most awesome CI’s we’ve ever had and he should not have had to deal with it in the first place. He is an awesome guy and adds a ton to our program. Yes his apology went a long way, but it didn’t have to happen to begin with. I am the biggest NNJR homer there is out there, and I was embarrassed by that whole fiasco. Shoulda never happened to begin with.
I am not a CI with NNJR, just a lowly instructor and driver, but I apologized to a bunch of folks that night as well. Just shoulda never happened. Can’t blame anyone for being upset after that meeting. Totally uncalled for. Thanks for your honest input.

ProCoach

I wan't there and I didn't hear the meeting, but judging from comments, usually these "come to Jesus" and "dressing down" meetings come from someone SCARED TO DEATH something is going to happen on their watch.

How do I know?

Because I've been there, done that. Ashamed of it. Have people remind me of it twenty-three years later because it was so out of character for the venue, the club and mostly, the messenger. Me. I though someone was going to get killed and I overreacted as the event chair and CI.

That's why the best way to handle these things is to ip them in the bud before they ever get to that stage. Niagara seems to do this effectively by distributing the ability to "call a meeting" by having small group of folks, rather than relying on just one person.

Tom, the Region and the others should never have been put in a situation where they were fighting a rear-guard action and trying to fix that mistake, but sounds like they responded swiftly and as effectively as they knew how.

Also, enough people became aware and enough effort was put in to remediate that gaffe that it sounds like folks learned from it and will be sensitive to making sure it doesn't happen again, Just my .02, not knowing any of the specifics.

NNJR are great people and an organization that invests in their instructor corps and students, even those outside the Region.

Veloce Raptor

What happened??????

dgrobs

^^VR^^

The two CI's who were running the black run group mentor meeting were a bit harsh in their comments to the group. When I say "a bit", I am understating.
People got offended by being talked to that way.
I got offended being talked to that way.
It was WAY out of character as our meetings are normally filled with laughter, a few digs here and there, and an overall great vibe. Emphasis on safety and awareness and the usual things.
This particular meeting did not have that great vibe and tone.
To this day, I still do not understand why it happened. No one at the meeting understood why it happened.
We were talked down to and insulted as drivers for things I'm not even sure were occurring out on the track. Way away from the norm for our mentor meetings. If I could use one word to describe it, I would use the word "shocking".
In all honesty, I really didn't see the things on track that the CI's were upset about. I think that's what had most of the meeting attendees pissed off. The tone and tenor from the folks running the meeting was bad. Period. It was WAY out of character from the norm for us.
That's what happened.

stownsen914

So next question - what preceded this meeting? Was there some on track behavior that prompted it? Not saying it was justified - just asking the question. I'm guessing it didn't just come out of left field.

I recall what sounds like a similar situation a bunch of years ago at WGI. It was prompted by multiple accidents, to the point that the track threatened to close the event down. The dressing down we got felt bad on the receiving end to be sure. But something did prompt it.

Edit: I do see some references above. Sounds like it isn't clear. I wonder if there were some communication gaps that led to the instructors in question having a wrong impression about on track behavior.

dgrobs

It kind of did.

I do not recall any incidents or accidents that prompted the discussion.
I did not see the bad behavior and bad driving that prompted the discussion.
I just didn't see any of it.
This was a normally scheduled mentor meeting. We have one for each run group before the track goes hot and right after that groups last session on track each day.

The tone of the meeting was very insulting to the black run group drivers, and I'm not really sure what prompted it.
I thought it was a great day in both Red and Black run groups, and I did not see any of the behavior, or bad driving, that was being brought up by the CI's.
The tone of the CI's didn't help. Made it much worse. No tact. Insulting.

It was a mistake, and it was rectified the next morning, but the taste left in the mouths of those drivers was not a good one.

It was way out of character for us, and it kind of did come out of left field.

Veloce Raptor

Thank you for the explanation. I am sorry to hear about that. During the meeting, did any of the attendees step up and indicate that the tone was way out of line? Or did everybody sit there and take it?

PGas32

Getting back to the reputation thing for a minute...let me ask you this. I'm a PCA National Instructor and an active Club Racer. I've never run with NNJR except for my National Instructor training where I brought my own mentor and we were essentially just guests running in Green. If I sign up for an NNJR event, what run group am I placed in? If I'd like to instruct, is that a possibility?

dgrobs

You can email our registrar and let him know your status. Yes, you would be able to instruct. We have out of region instructors at most of our events.

Most likely you would register as an instructor, if you wanted to instruct, and register in black or red.

Clearly, the best way would be to email our registrar or track chair. Both emails are on the MSR reg pages.

You would be happily welcomed to come run with us. We welcome all, because we are a welcoming and friendly bunch.

PGas32

I ask because there's a region a little farther south (down around the Swamp) that often gets 'talked about' with NNJR, and I'm not sure the answers there would be the same based on personal experience and anecdotes from others I know. To be clear, I haven't run with either region but I certainly hear the paddock talk. So, I'm glad to hear NNJR would welcome me!