Why FWR SCCA will never see another dime from me

What you need,my friend is some good old Gonzo Hooligan revenge.If I were you I would attend another event and seek this person out whether or not he is once again a "tech" person.Ask him to check the security of your battery,now that it has been repaired;he will no doubt accept the offer.As he leans over to give it a tremendous tug nonchalantly walk behind him and administer an atomic wedgie.Grasp the band of his underoos with an over-hand grip and squat down while simultaneously twisting your hands into a supine position.Bring your fists into your shoulders and push your elbows into his hamstrings then stand up while keeping your arms locked in this position.You may now bounce him and securely insert his fudgies into his nether regions.At least until the band tears off.

Yes,I have had lots of practice with this maneuver.

Seriously,it's wedgie time...

My two cents.
I have run events in Fort Wayne (in years past) and found them to be well run events.
I am sorry to hear this happened and expect this could have happened many places. Before it escalated too high I would have quickly involved a Safety Steward.

Disclaimer: Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

As stated, it has been years since I ran at FW but I was there when the kid put his dad's Corvette into the fence at the truck plant.

mad_machine wrote: I find it odd that Hyundai went to a plastic battery Tray. The one in my old Tiburon was solid metal

Correct. The RD/RD2 Tibs and J2 Elantra's all used metal trays. In 2001 Hyundai went to Plastic like many automakers to save weight.

GregTivo wrote: This isn't meant to be smart, but what damage can a loose battery do in modern engine bays that can be a hazard to the driver/course/workers.

While not all that "modern", the MKII, MKIII Golfs and Jettas, as well as the B3 and B4 Passat, and the Corrado all had the power steering tank mounted on the frame rail next to the battery. If the battery isn't sufficiently tied down during a hard left turn, it will slide over and break the ps fluid tank, dumping fluid all over the ground. I found that out the hard way. Luckily, it happened on the street and not an auto-x course.

16vCorey wrote:

GregTivo wrote: This isn't meant to be smart, but what damage can a loose battery do in modern engine bays that can be a hazard to the driver/course/workers.

While not all that "modern", the MKII, MKIII Golfs and Jettas, as well as the B3 and B4 Passat, and the Corrado all had the power steering tank mounted on the frame rail next to the battery. If the battery isn't sufficiently tied down during a hard left turn, it will slide over and break the ps fluid tank, dumping fluid all over the ground. I found that out the hard way. Luckily, it happened on the street and not an auto-x course.

luckily i dont have that problem with the Mk1, but when i got Cool Runnings, it didnt have a tie down at all. Took a left hander at speed and about 5 minutes later I look at my temp gauge to find my temp is going up. I pull over and pop the hood to find the battery laying on the rad-fan, stopped. I ran to Walmart and bought me one...

Violence is not the answer.*

*unless dealing with Humans. History shows, undoubtedly, that violence is almost always the answer.

 -Bob

I know someone said this and I will mention again. Remember most workers are there as volunteers, unfortunately there is no interview process or an exact science on putting workers in their positions. One would hope that a tech inspector knows something about most cars, while registration people have good customer service and marketing skills. This is not always the case though as finding volunteers is a job in itself.

I was Autocross Chief from 2004-2008 for our region. It was not fun finding volunteers, especially those who didn't understand the concept of "volunterring your time" to have fun. People think these events run themselves and the CORE WORKERS just get there, throw some cones on the lot and call it a day. Some of these CORE WORKERS have been planning this event for weeks before the 1st competitor even registers or shows up. Some of these CORE WORKERS get there at 5am to setup, and some of those same CORE WORKERS are the last to leave when everyone else is at home watching F1. I had/heard people said I was hard core when the events run, but you have to be especially when people don't show up for their worker assignments or just run and leave. It's also the job where people complain to you, but you don't get any thank yous or pats on the back. It's a THANKLESS job especially being a volunteer.

Please don't forget that. Now granted the tech inspector you encountered for some reason had a chip on his shoulder. Personally if someone in our region acted like that I would have had stepped in. No need to destroy someone's day by breaking their car. Like someone mentioned a strap probably would have sufficed.

If you haven't done so already I would send the Autocross Chair a note on what happened.

our region has a tech team. the guys working tech always work tech, and they all know what they are doing. seems like it's worked out pretty well so far.

This has been (and continues to be) handled by the FWR. That is all I could ask for.

As far as I'm concerned this matter is over, thread can be closed/deleted as deemed appropriate.

On a side note.... I've been Tech cheif for our region for the last 2 years. I've been lucky to have a good crew that is always there and always knows what they are doing. Being "that person" is likely what infuriated me the most. This was NOT how this should have been handled.