pca morning of tech line
11-14-2011, 12:09 PM
#16
Three Wheelin'
If I may, allow me to rephrase the OP:
The last and only time I attended a PCA event....my presence at the Sat morning tech line was required, despite my intentions (desires) to attend Sunday only. The really pisses me off and I wonder how common this is - why can't a guy
attend a Sunday AM tech instead of arriving a farking day early?
Perhaps this is the question...I dunno.
The last and only time I attended a PCA event....my presence at the Sat morning tech line was required, despite my intentions (desires) to attend Sunday only. The really pisses me off and I wonder how common this is - why can't a guy
attend a Sunday AM tech instead of arriving a farking day early?
Perhaps this is the question...I dunno.
11-14-2011, 01:35 PM
#17
Drifting
A year and a half ago I was visiting an event in Chicago at AutoBahn.
They must have Tech'd 100+ cars in less than an hour with 2 lines
for a single day event.
I got to be a fly on the wall.
I'm sure it was a pain for those waiting in line, but the event started on time
and without a hitch.
The people running tech new their roles and flew through each car quickly but thoroughly.
I was very impressed.
I did not run that day, but I would have felt good to have known that not only was
my car double checked, but that all the other cars on track had equal scrutiny.
Mike
Most of the issues were un-torqued wheels and unprotected battery posts.
A few brake pad issues, but nothing I observed of a more serious nature.
m
They must have Tech'd 100+ cars in less than an hour with 2 lines
for a single day event.
I got to be a fly on the wall.
I'm sure it was a pain for those waiting in line, but the event started on time
and without a hitch.
The people running tech new their roles and flew through each car quickly but thoroughly.
I was very impressed.
I did not run that day, but I would have felt good to have known that not only was
my car double checked, but that all the other cars on track had equal scrutiny.
Mike
Most of the issues were un-torqued wheels and unprotected battery posts.
A few brake pad issues, but nothing I observed of a more serious nature.
m
11-14-2011, 01:54 PM
#18
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the one I went to had a single line. Maybe it was due to it being a joint event with tm/pca. There did seem to be quite a bit of confusion going on. Perhaps I'll give PCA another try next year.
11-14-2011, 02:56 PM
#19
Three Wheelin'
Please do. I usually tech somewhere between 30-50 cars at the track friday, another 30-50 at the hotel that night, and the rest on saturday morning. I have done it by myself, which is not so much fun, but most times I have one or two people helping, which flows pretty quickly. We try like hell to get everyone out on time, and other than 1 or 2 people who missed a little of the first session, we get everyone out. Or see if the offer tech the night before, at the hotel, or the track. Get there a bit early, get it done, and start unwinding.
11-14-2011, 09:44 PM
#20
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I wasn't aware of the night before tech. I'll look into that. Thanks.
I would definitely like to attend more pca events, but having to wait in line without anyone checking my car was a big turn off to me. Other than that the event was great.
I would definitely like to attend more pca events, but having to wait in line without anyone checking my car was a big turn off to me. Other than that the event was great.
11-14-2011, 09:49 PM
#21
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The process obviously works well considering it is how the PCA does things across the country. But being a racer in a club that uses a pre-tech with a log book method (POC), I must say I absolutely prefer the pre-tech approach. The one PCA club race I ever ran was in Utah 4 or so years ago: I shipped the car there and flew in to race after getting an initial OK from a local shop who had been a PCA Steward before, yet the tech steward at the track interpreted the rules in a way that he said my driver's seat was not legal to run. My situation must not occur very often, and fortunately for my weekend I found someone with a spare seat at the track that happened to fit my rear end, and was able to bolt it in after 8 hours using crappy tools so I got to run. Despite the bloody knuckles I still had a great time driving. The frustrating part was there was a car which had the exact same seat as mine in his car but he already had a log book and wasn't getting his initial tech, and was cleared to run for the weekend. It took 3 hours of standing there in the tech line next to my car for the steward to finally tell me I was not permitted to run given my setup. Uggh. An anomaly, I'm sure! 
Last edited by garrett376; 11-14-2011 at 11:42 PM.
11-14-2011, 11:37 PM
#23
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I attended one event with poc in 09 as well. I do plan on going
to the poc events next year as well. Mostly I haven't due to scheduling with friends that attended with other clubs. Next year, however, I want to go through the poc
classes and the race clinic in '13 assuming I make it.
to the poc events next year as well. Mostly I haven't due to scheduling with friends that attended with other clubs. Next year, however, I want to go through the poc
classes and the race clinic in '13 assuming I make it.
11-15-2011, 06:12 PM
#24
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I attended one event with poc in 09 as well. I do plan on going
to the poc events next year as well. Mostly I haven't due to scheduling with friends that attended with other clubs. Next year, however, I want to go through the poc
classes and the race clinic in '13 assuming I make it.
to the poc events next year as well. Mostly I haven't due to scheduling with friends that attended with other clubs. Next year, however, I want to go through the poc
classes and the race clinic in '13 assuming I make it.
11-15-2011, 06:40 PM
#25
A year and a half ago I was visiting an event in Chicago at AutoBahn.
They must have Tech'd 100+ cars in less than an hour with 2 lines
for a single day event.
I got to be a fly on the wall.
I'm sure it was a pain for those waiting in line, but the event started on time
and without a hitch.
The people running tech new their roles and flew through each car quickly but thoroughly.
I was very impressed.
I did not run that day, but I would have felt good to have known that not only was
my car double checked, but that all the other cars on track had equal scrutiny.
Mike
Most of the issues were un-torqued wheels and unprotected battery posts.
A few brake pad issues, but nothing I observed of a more serious nature.
m
They must have Tech'd 100+ cars in less than an hour with 2 lines
for a single day event.
I got to be a fly on the wall.
I'm sure it was a pain for those waiting in line, but the event started on time
and without a hitch.
The people running tech new their roles and flew through each car quickly but thoroughly.
I was very impressed.
I did not run that day, but I would have felt good to have known that not only was
my car double checked, but that all the other cars on track had equal scrutiny.
Mike
Most of the issues were un-torqued wheels and unprotected battery posts.
A few brake pad issues, but nothing I observed of a more serious nature.
m
I help Peter and Kori run tech at a lot of the Chicago Region DE's. I'll pass the word on. They do a good job of getting organized before the event. They know who's going to be there, they know the schedule, etc. and if turnout is expected to be large, they deliberately give priority to cars in the tech line that are going out in the first run groups, just in case. Those of us working tech usually get to the track by 6-6:30am and start running cars through as soon as possible. Not to mention, 9 times out of ten, those of us working tech are also participants for the DE - we don't want to be still doing tech while our session is heading out!Wasted brake pads and loose lug nuts are the most common that I've seen. We check everybody - even cars "pre-tech'd" somewhere else. We get some flak for it but I've personally seen cars roll through the tech line, supposedly "signed off" by a local dealer, with lug nuts barely torqued finger-tight. Personally I appreciate the 2nd set of eyes when it comes to tech'ing my car.
11-15-2011, 08:40 PM
#26
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Anyone know if all zone 8 chapters require the day of tech line as well as a pre-tech form?
The last and only time I attended a PCA event in 2009 the morning of tech line was required, which I found rather annoying. It's enough to keep me from attending another PCA event, but thought I'd try and find out of that is no longer necessary.
The last and only time I attended a PCA event in 2009 the morning of tech line was required, which I found rather annoying. It's enough to keep me from attending another PCA event, but thought I'd try and find out of that is no longer necessary.
11-16-2011, 12:00 AM
#27
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My experience with tech lines is that they usually last no more than 5 minutes. 10 is very rare. Trick is to come early, or check if they have one the night before (BMWCCA does this often).
FM
11-16-2011, 12:28 AM
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Still have a cracked windshield. Haven't decided on whether or not I'm going with lexan yet.
11-16-2011, 03:41 AM
#29
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As someone who has happily attended and helped at PCA events for years I second the idea of you attending POC events. My suggestion would be that you should make it an exclusive relationship. If stopping and starting your car is this painful to you I can only imagine what a PIA you are in every other respect. I don't suppose it occurred to you to offer to help and thus help eliminate the problem.
11-16-2011, 04:29 AM
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As someone who has happily attended and helped at PCA events for years I second the idea of you attending POC events. My suggestion would be that you should make it an exclusive relationship. If stopping and starting your car is this painful to you I can only imagine what a PIA you are in every other respect. I don't suppose it occurred to you to offer to help and thus help eliminate the problem.
Perhaps if you read in more detail what I wrote you'll notice the actual gripe was primarily around waiting so long only to not have more car checked. Why make me wait and then essentially signing off my car without checking anything.
As for helping you may have noticed one of my other posts asking about POC bucks and helping out at POC events. If I do indeed start attending PCA events I'd be more than happy to help out.
You may have also deduced by what I wrote it was the only PCA event I ever attended, which happened to be a joint trackmasters/pca event. Not knowing any better at the time I made the assumption(perhaps the wrong one) that all PCA events were that disorganized. I'd like to give pca another try, so I thought I'd ask about the tech line experience.