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This is for people who actually race. Not pit crew but drive. Do you guys pay attention to the flagman or just go by the light and what you hear on the raceciever? No real reason I ask just something ive wondered. Im sure back in the day thats all you had to go by but nowadays it seems the flagman could be pretty irrelevant to racing.
Flagman and lights, very little to receiver. Once I see a yellow or red light on then you start to wind down and listen. I can't hear the receiver when the car is at full song. Receivers do help lineups and once you start to slow down know what's going on.
Good question as i have wondered the sameďQuote:
Originally Posted by Rollover
I watched the flagman every lap I could, but more out of peripheral vision then anything but could always see what flag he was waving or if he gave a 5 laps left signal or whatever. I'd prefer to still have a flag man regardless because I don't have to be able to hear or understand words while racing.
Yeah making out anything on the raceciever is pretty tough, sometimes they start talking before pressing the speaker button and you don't catch it all, let alone hearing it over the car at full throttle. Lights for yellow/red and look for halfway and 5 to go from flagman.
I guess I sort of pay attention to him, but more of a secondary deal.
One track I run at is pretty good with the raceivers, the other they scream in it, repeat "yellow yellow yellow" like 20 times etc. I used to watch the stop light, but they have went green while it's still yellow, they've been under caution and it's green, it's flashed yellow and back to green (stayed green), sometimes it doesn't work, it's a nightmare. Sadly at this track I kind of just do what everyone else is doing. Generally I don't slow down until I know for sure it's a caution or checkered.
Speaking of... here's my 2 cents on a flag man.
Green should be waved when the race starts, then pulled back and not displayed.
White flag should be held out square, not waved.
Wave the checkered flag, that's ok.
and obviously wave caution or red flags as needed.
I don't like having to try to figure out if the flag they are waving is the white or checkered (and sometimes even the white flag looks like the yellow with a halogen light shining on it).
If the green flag is left to hang there, the wind can blow it, and I guess I look for movement first color second. If I see movement I try to figure out what's being waved. So having the green out there is kind of a waste.
Most of the tracks we run turn the yellow lights off when the next lap is supposed to go green. Where we're supposed to start, usually a line in 4, on the rare occasion I'm on the front row when we hit the line I go with one eye on the flagger and one on the lights. Easy place to pick up a spot and sometimes the green doesn't even come on till you're halfway down the front straight and it's difficult to see the flagman. Raceivers are great for getting lineups in place and giving a yellow or red warning but, other than that I don't need someone shouting in my ear.
The track and situation itself dictate a lot for me. I pay attention to the flagman most certainly for stuff like the halfway point and 5 to go, etc. But for cautions not so much...you might be on the back straight when the yellow comes out. Also depends on where the flag stand is. I have a hard time picking him up if the flag stand is on the infield side. So I prefer tracks where he's on the outside. But from what I recall at Brownstown that guy might as well be in a different zip code. Haven't been there in forever so maybe it's changed. I recall Lawrenceburg having Christmas decoration type lights hanging over the straights. I liked that! Maybe a sprint Car thing. I've also come to ignore the move over flag. Some guys show it way too soon and you lose position to the two guys behind you! But I do respect you if I see your nose and you're lapping me.
Caution lights are another thing. Way back when we ran a dash and got points and $ for heats, I lost a championship from the yellow coming on during our heat and my slowing down (at least that's my excuse), only to have two cars pass me and the green come back on. The flagman said "That only happens when it's cold out and my sweatshirt gets caught on the switches." Nice!
I've found the Raceiver most useful for lineups under caution. During the race it's somewhat hard to hear. Some people yell into it and others stand right next to the track so all you hear are the cars going by.
Lights, flagman, and since raced before raceceiver use instinct to know where to lineup
lights, raceiver for cautions. our tracks caution lights are great(flash, strobe) all for corners. flagman is on raceiver right away saying where the caution is. Flagman more so for his signals, halfway, 5 to go, white flag, layover, black flag
Like others have mentioned, the raceceiver is great for lining up especially after a long green flag run and mixed in with all the traffic. But there are times that it's very difficult to see exactly what the flagman has in his hand. Some of the tracks in our area have the scoreboard in a good place to glance at the lap count on the board in case I've got lost on how many we've already run.
I usually don't start slowing down until I hear them say something over the radio just for the fact that the caution lights could come on by accident.