Dirt track spotters

[VaDirt]

So this caused quite a stir this morning, mostly among the dirt late model crowd.

 

[Greg]

It has been a long time since I have been to a Dirt track:

But are we talking about hand signs only, or radios and a dedicated spotters stand?

 

[VaDirt]

It has been a long time since I have been to a Dirt track:

But are we talking about hand signs only, or radios and a dedicated spotters stand?

We're talking about just guys with colorful sticks like the one seen here. No radios, nothing else, just sticks or hand signals.

 

[kkfan91]

How do those work?

 

[VaDirt]

How do those work?

Bascially the guy with the sticks just uses them to tell how close or how far back the next guy is, or sometimes uses them to tell his driver to move up or move down.

 

[MRM]

The two national DLM tours have outlawed the crew guys from being in the stands or outside the wall (like in the above pic) with these lights. Personally, I think they would be distracting to the drivers. Sure, the one looking for it isn't distracted. If three or four of those guys are standing within a couple of hundred feet of each other, I can see that as a distraction. I think they'll eventually be banned.

 

[gnomesayin]

It has been a long time since I have been to a Dirt track:

But are we talking about hand signs only, or radios and a dedicated spotters stand?

The whole dirt track world is very proud of the no team radios thing. Some series use one way radios for communication from race officials to drivers only. It is extremely common at all levels to have unofficial spotters displaying hand signs or sometimes dry erase boards etc. As @MRM stated, the two big late model series have banned the practice in the stands itself. Obviously there it is a huge distraction to the paying audience.

The drivers and teams are always going to be looking for any edge, and this will happen to whatever degree it is allowed. IMO Larson is correct, and the more this stuff is kept to a minimum, the better. The lack of external driver aids is part of what separates the ethic of dirt track racing from other disciplines.

 

[Greg]

So this caused quite a stir this morning, mostly among the dirt late model crowd.
View attachment 34114

I don't get why it is such a big deal.
It is cheap, and even if illegal it would be hard to enforce.

 

[Greg]

The whole dirt track world is very proud of the no team radios thing. Some series use one way radios for communication from race officials to drivers only. It is extremely common at all levels to have unofficial spotters displaying hand signs or sometimes dry erase boards etc. As @MRM stated, the two big late model series have banned the practice in the stands itself. Obviously there it is a huge distraction to the paying audience.

The drivers and teams are always going to be looking for any edge, and this will happen to whatever degree it is allowed. IMO Larson is correct, and the more this stuff is kept to a minimum, the better. The lack of external driver aids is part of what separates the ethic of dirt track racing from other disciplines.

I do like the ban of two way radios, and minimum driver aids.