Lets keep this thread going then

[Spun Crankhub]

Editing my initial post per a request from someone at speedsf who explained that this little hot head is not an employee.

[SYT_Shadow]

I only go to well run events by the likes of PCA and BMWCCA.

So far my experience in 'point by optional' events if first, people are slower than well run normal events with point bys. And also that they tend to bring out complete assholes.

[Spun Crankhub]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

I only go to well run events by the likes of PCA and BMWCCA.

So far my experience in 'point by optional' events if first, people are slower than well run normal events with point bys. And also that they tend to bring out complete assholes.

I hate to admit that it matters, but its true. Earlier in the day one of my friends was like "ahm I definitely prefer hooked on driving events."

I am just happy to be in the higher run groups with proper drivers, ego in check, who respect the circuit and fellow drivers. I was at T-Hill West last weekend on some r888r's that came into the day with 25 heat cycles because my AR1's didnt arrive in time, and suffice it to say I had zero to negative 100 grip. I spent the bulk of the day with my arm out the window waving people on like a 3rd base coach.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Spun Crankhub

I hate to admit that it matters, but its true. Earlier in the day one of my friends was like "ahm I definitely prefer hooked on driving events."

I am just happy to be in the higher run groups with proper drivers, ego in check, who respect the circuit and fellow drivers. I was at T-Hill West last weekend on some r888r's that came into the day with 25 heat cycles because my AR1's didnt arrive in time, and suffice it to say I had zero to negative 100 grip. I spent the bulk of the day with my arm out the window waving people on like a 3rd base coach.

R888Rs are just the worst, I hate them

[dvq]

Yikes shitty experience I've gone to 6 or 7 SpeedSF events and only had a really good time so far with minimal issues. Any pics of this white S2K? I'm an ex s2000 person and I probably know lots of them.

[MisterF80M3]

Originally Posted by dvq

Yikes shitty experience I've gone to 6 or 7 SpeedSF events and only had a really good time so far with minimal issues. Any pics of this white S2K? I'm an ex s2000 person and I probably know lots of them.

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

This is why I stick with the bigger organizations. This is my first time running TT in Nasa and it's such a blessing... not being the slowest in TT3 but rather people being fast and assertive in taking their passes.

[Spun Crankhub]

Originally Posted by dvq

Yikes shitty experience I've gone to 6 or 7 SpeedSF events and only had a really good time so far with minimal issues. Any pics of this white S2K? I'm an ex s2000 person and I probably know lots of them.

I will have to see if anyone caught him on vid.
I LOVE well appointed s2k's and this one sadly had a terrible looking front body kit(not aero, but in fact what appeared to be a fiberglass body kit circa original Fast and Furious.)

[Spun Crankhub]

Originally Posted by sc_tr0jan_m3

This is why I stick with the bigger organizations. This is my first time running TT in Nasa and it's such a blessing... not being the slowest in TT3 but rather people being fast and assertive in taking their passes.

I was just talking to Tupper from HOD the other day, and he said I need to do an event with NASA.

[FaRKle!]

This is why the Rear-end (rearden) Racing incidents happened at a Speed SF event. They just don't marshall well.

And having a "point by optional" group is just plain stupid. Way to set NO expectation.

[cpxchewy]

I was there on sat and saw what happened. Your Aston friend kept cutting him off at every single safe overtaking spot and he had to back off every time. There was a very dangerous incident between T6 and T7 where the aston seemed like he was slowing down after T6 and the S2k took the chance and then he tried to make it back to following you. He literally cut the S2k off and almost caused an accident.

Did it warrant that aggression afterwards and breaking the 6 ft social distancing protocols? Probably not, and this is probably a speedsf issue on having open group where people's skills aren't balanced enough for others.

[alex2364]

Originally Posted by cpxchewy

I was there on sat and saw what happened. Your Aston friend kept cutting him off at every single safe overtaking spot and he had to back off every time. There was a very dangerous incident between T6 and T7 where the aston seemed like he was slowing down after T6 and the S2k took the chance and then he tried to make it back to following you. He literally cut the S2k off and almost caused an accident.

Sounds like Spun Crankhub's Aston friend needs to learn how to drive (and yield) on the track.

[cheezlehp4e92]

Hey OP,

Full disclosure; I am friends with a lot of people in the SpeedSF org, as I have been tracking with them for several years now. And I was not at the event, so I only know what I've heard second-hand. But, I will say this:

I can appreciate why you may be upset from some confrontation that sounds like (from both sides) hardly happened. But, why the need to get so personal and talk so much shit?

I've seen the s2k's in car footage and I think a lot of people will see that he was being courteous the entire time, without taking any unnecessary risks to pass. You state "...and understood that you will be sharing the track, so be nice." The Aston, and then you (if you wanted to continue the lead-follow with your buddy), should have slowed and let the s2k pass, as he was clearly running the quicker pace and you wouldn't have had to seen him again for the session. Everyone paid to be there, so it's not just about being nicer to the moderately paced folks, it's also letting people who want to go faster, go faster and get their fun out of the day/session as well.

I'll try to find a link to the video and share here.

From his side, I heard he just wanted to talk about the session, but you refused to chat, calling out COVID rules. Again, I wasn't there, so I have no further comment about this.

Lastly, he is not a speedsf employee (neither am I) we all have some t-shirts and hoodies from the events we like to go to.

And I guess from a personal standpoint, you don't sound like a very nice person, middle-aged-professional or not.

[cheezlehp4e92]

Here's the link to his video:

You can also see they just entered the track. Should have yielded to the s2k from the get-go or at least let him pass early on since they were on their out lap.

[hC1001]

Having a civil conversation would've probably cleared things up... I dont know what "I punked the sh*t out of him because I am about 8 inches taller than him." means. Is that a stare down and waiting for someone to take a swing?

It seems other witnesses have a much different story but i dont want to instigate anything. At a HPDE setting, everyone is there to have a good time. Ppl are usually nice and if someone blocks or makes a mistake, they would usually try to find the other driver in the paddock and apologize even if its something little. Just remember, we are all there to have a good time.

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

The old saying of "if you have someone new in your mirror for more than 3 corners then you ought to let them pass" comes to mind after seeing that video...

Yeah it sucks being behind a slow pair of cars, but it doesn't warrant yelling after the session. Just drive through the hot pits to create spacing.

And it's cool to have a high HP car, but don't hold up faster, low(er) hp cars. Take the ego hit, pass them by, and try to learn where they're faster than you.

It all boils down to cooperation.

[kpaso]

Originally Posted by Spun Crankhub

Gotta get on here and share my TERRIBLE experience from Speed sf's Sonoma raceway event from 3/13
During the Bonus session aka fun run after all run groups had done their 5 sessions I went onto the track with my friends .2 GTS and had another friend follow me in his Vantage. I just wanted him to get a couple laps behind me to fine tune his line. My friend in the Vantage was running 2:07 most of the day, and me 1:50's, so the plan was to do some medium speed stuff in line with intermediate expectations.
I noticed around T8 that a white s2k was coming up on the Vantage, and given the rules of the session as "point by recommended" I assumed he would find a spot and make the pass. Well he didnt(or maybe couldnt, but thats a discussion for another time.)
We do one more lap, and for some reason the pass never comes. Finally I decide to brake and give him the point by just before T1, and didnt think about it beyond that.
Fast forward about 15 minutes off track and a little guy in a speed sf aka Shit SF hoodie walks up to me(I suppose because I was standing a few feet from the Aston, and confronts me in a very aggressive manner. Yes he was less than 6 feet from me during Covid, and yes I punked the sh*t out of him because I am about 8 inches taller than him.
After he walks away back to where staff was shutting down I again didnt think much of it, but I really only found myself irritated and disappointed when I was driving out towards the gate in my car, to have him and another Shit SF employee stare aggressively and make what I believe are low life hood rat fighting provocation sounds at me. NOT OKAY!!!
Soooo...lots to unpack here, and I have now thought about the situation over night...
*I exclusively run in open advanced group where at times there are cars and drivers that I am far outmatched by, thus I am very versed in the art of the point by, but in a fun run session it is a confluence of all the run groups, and understood that you will be sharing the track, so be nice.

*The fun run session is a full hour, if you dont like who you are running with at the moment, go through the hot pits and do a reset.

*The pilot of the Sp Motorsports Gt4 was in the garage adjacent to ours and he actually asked us if we knew who the "asshole in the white S2k is?'

*Lets revisit the white s2k pilot and his unwillingness or inability to pass. A proper driver in an s2k would have had no problem making a pass on two cars running at about 70%. I did not see him in either of the open groups, so my guess is he was from one of the intermediate groups, and is actually mad at us because he would have needed us to brake for him to find a way around. Sorry, keep improving..

*The only thing that actually matters here is that this was an employee who while representing the company putting on the event, acted in a matter which no employee ever should.
He definitely lost the company 3 customers going forward, as my friends who are all middle aged professionals were mortified. While I am undecided as of right now how I feel about using speed sf again. I personally dont really care who puts on the event, as I just need track time, but it will make me think twice when scheduling.

Wow, the video posted tells a 100% different story than the one you typed out here.

It actually looks like the S2000 passed your friend more than once and your friend passed him back, refusing to let him stay ahead.

Since you talk about how well versed you are in pointing people by, I would strongly suggest you educate your friend so he can do the same.

It's not on the s2k to go into the hot pits to get a clean run when both of you entered the track while he was on a hot lap and the Aston Martin did not make any attempt to let a much faster (1:52) S2000 by.

I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but calling yourself a middle aged professional and then saying things like "I punked the sh*t out of him because I am about 8 inches taller than him." is a bit contradictory.

I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that because you were so much further ahead of your friend it was difficult to see what was actaully happening behind the aston martin while doing hot laps.

[dvq]

Yeah, Peter is a good driver, this was your buddy's mistake and he can learn from it. The tempers flaring up after that's on everyone involved. Chill out you're all there to have fun.

[kyippee]

Hello,

Wow - ok let's unpack this a bit. I'm 5'10", 34, and a mid-level leader at a public tech company. I hope this is good enough for you, and that I can earn enough of your respect to have a productive conversation. (I'm reading this and it's coming off as a lot of projection in the opening post - feedback: that's not needed)

Some background on the less professional side of me: Have been driving in HPDE since 2008 in the East Coast and West Coast. Started off with NASA, SCCA, BMW CCA and for many years started off in novice and low-intermediate groups because seat time was hard to afford. Recently increased seat time significantly in 2017-2020, attended events with HOD, SpeedSF, OnGrid, and some private track days.

I hope for all of us to have a safe, fun environment to keep on learning and developing.

I've reviewed the footage, your post, and the comments here. Based on what I've seen, here's a few pieces of feedback + overall commentary.

#1: Based on footage I see, that was in the OP2 run group. There are certain levels of driver awareness and pace expected of OP2 and OP1 run groups. That was not evident in the footage, and the behavior was egregious. If this was a test of letting all run groups be together, then clearly there are some signals here about it not working. I'm sure this will be taken as feedback and adjustments may be made. If it was an all-group session test, the standard concepts of point-bys when someone is in consistently in your rear view mirror applies. I love pointing people by. Clears up space, even if it requires a lift for a lower-power car. Then I get to try and chase them down to figure out how that lower-power car is somehow catching up!

#2: Based on what I read from your opening post, your attitude and approach sucked. Giving the benefit of doubt, because I will assume that you have good intentions. Before we hop to strange insults about height and how "hood" someone is, let's focus on the actions, behaviors, think about what happened, and how it could have been interpreted by others.

#3: Based on #1 and #2, it's clear that there was a mismatch, caused by being in the wrong run group. I've been attending SpeedSF events having experienced it being an amazing place for drivers to learn, as long as we are in the appropriate run group. Some amazingly fast and aware drivers along my side in OP1. I've never heard of this all-run-group-fun-session, but have been in many sessions where OP2 and OP1 are merged. The expectations of awareness in OP2 are high, and based on the evidence, I do not see that awareness.

Overall, I would suggest some introspection. If you still feel the same, then I am sorry and I am glad that you are not coming back - in that case, please go try OnGrid events or try HOD + NASA. HOD and NASA have great processes and have a great structured environment if they still do HPDE3/4 sign-offs, solo sign off etc. One of my friends is an instructor at HOD; he would probably be happy to work with your friend on getting faster, safely. If you don't like my post, that is ok too. In that case, this post is here for others to see what I believe is a balanced perspective.

[nholmes]

Cool story, bro.

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by Spun Crankhub

I noticed around T8 that a white s2k was coming up on the Vantage, and given the rules of the session as "point by recommended" I assumed he would find a spot and make the pass. Well he didnt(or maybe couldnt, but thats a discussion for another time.)
We do one more lap, and for some reason the pass never comes. Finally I decide to brake and give him the point by just before T1, and didnt think about it beyond that.

Your friend was a boat anchor in every turn and passed him back several times on the straight, and a couple instances almost punted him into the wall. I can see why the s2k driver was upset.

On the other hand, he shouldn't have confronted him like that during COVID, so that wasn't ok either.

I've become more cautious in these mixed run group settings because you get hard-ons like this that won't give you a pass in corners and just have a superior hp car that launches like a rocket. In fact, one GTR with a mentality exactly like this guy caused me an accident because I had to go 4-off to avoid him when he slammed on the brakes 100 meters from the real brakingzone. I hit a ditch ripping off my oil cooler, bumper, and radiator, causing me $9000 of damage on my E46.

So these days when I run into a jerk like this, I just get off track and create myself a space, because they will NEVER ever do it for you.

[2013135isbro]

>On the other hand, he shouldn't have confronted him like that during COVID, so that wasn't ok either.

This dude completely misrepresented what happened on the track, I somehow doubt he painted a truthful picture of what happened afterward.