Setting up the Spitfire and teams - We failed

Not to mention.. getting 8 guys for two teams... 

And I am not an innocent here.. I also was part of the problem.

Yeah.. after the dust settles we will get together and figure it out.   One guy races an MGB classic race car (he was the one in the RX7 wreck) and was also hit at Button Turrible. He likely will not race Lemons anymore understandably .. with his luck.

My pops is likely going to team up with Spank for Sears Pointless 2014

I am getting married in May 2014.. and that is important for me.. I also have lots of weekend work Jan-March so doubt I can get the car ready or even the weekend off for the race.. Then June I will be traveling so no Button Turrible. 

Maybe I will rent the car out to some local folks if they are up for the work to get it ready.  Full package with truck and trailer to haul it with.

I love racing and Lemons .. I wont be gone long.

After reading this thread it makes me realize how much I was blessed with the teammates we had this year.  We had seven guys on the team this year (including me), five of which I had not met before and all five of them were from different states.

I am sure that we may have said or did some things that got on each other's nerves, but everyone kept their egos and mouths in check and came together as a team each of our three races this year.

Colin, don't let one rough weekend get you down.  Learn from the issues and come back better than before.

Oh, and congrats on the upcoming marriage!

+1.   Failure is impossible with this plan.

I've been there with the team friction thing.  The "team" I had when I built my first Lemons car turned out to be a bunch of wanna-be's.  Luckily I was able to lean on some of my oldest and dearest friends to pull through that dark patch and actually get the thing on the track.

FWIW, my two cents is that you need either A) a team of people who are equally obsessed and insane as you are, or B) do it ALL on your own and treat the rest of the team as just another logistical challenge.

I've only done one race a year so far.. why?  Because getting everyone together for more than that is a lot of work... and I'm here for the fun.  Nuts to work; I already do enough of that.

I wonder how much of your problems are mechanical which then lead to the personnel problems?

Doesn't the average driver get grumpy when they spend money and time and the car breaks down right away?

One car broken and the other wrecked, that's enough to piss off the pope.

I have had some similar experiences with this sort of thing.  I started out racing off road where I bought, built and prepped everything.  I would get some occasional help from friends but I ran the show.  since there is a co-driver/navigator there was plenty of pay off for those who helped (they ride/navigate for free).  This seemed  to work the best but I am a control freak around the race car so.....

Last year we started in the Lemons series.   A friend and I (was originally planned to be 3 owner car) ended up building the car and getting drivers for the races. 

I have had to learn to let go a little and give up control since I am not the sole owner of the car/team.  We have had some conflicts, some feeling hurt and I'm sure some people don't come back to the races because of this.   I have had a hard time just going with the flow if I think the flow is going the wrong way.  Sharing capt duties is tough for me but I am learning.  At the 24 race in Houston this year, he was captain and I was 2nd in command.  Things went well until I got home and found the trailer loaded up wrong and the car not strapped down properly.  I could move the car about 1.5 feet inside the trailer, tie downs going over tool boxes, and 4 straps ruined from rubbing on car or equipment.  I was last to drive and showed as the team loaded the trailer for the drive home. I should mention I own the trailer and all the tools/equipment so no loss to anyone but me.  My partners solution was put it on the team books so it only cost me half of replacement value.  Remember that part about I own all of the equipment?  I have already paid 100% for the first ones so paying 50% for a 2nd set is a deal right?  And I got to unload the entire thing myself.

Also, from my experience, having a smooth day at the race didn't help.  We have placed 2nd in both races and I have yelled at at least one person in both races pissing them off.  I tend to be loud anyway and if you are the type to "get a bigger hammer" when things don't go your way I tend to get pissed off since it was my money and hours put into building and prepping the race car.  But I contend that racing can have serious consequences so some level of doing it the right way matters. 

The last race an A/D couldn't get the hood pin in/latched and he started banging on the hood, I said it goes in easily if you have it right and he kept on banging on it.   Finally I snapped at him and yelled stop banging on it and he got pissed and left the pit for a while.  The other A/D still hasn't paid in full for the race (in Sept, now Dec). 

So I think I am going back to the A/D people and going to just charge more to cover me busting my ass to do everything and not having any expectations for the A/D except in the drivers seat.  One of the A/Ds acts like he is a paid driver for some Le Mon prototype team anyway so might as well treat him like that.  Also has to do with personalities. 

I know I have put at least 6 people in a race car for their first time racing and at least 2x that many in the navigators seat during a race.  I love racing but you can't do it alone and on some of the bad days, you question why you do it at all. I won't stop racing, and keep looking for good guys who don't have an ego or attitude with a thick skin.

I have been pretty close to selling it all and buying a shifter cart.  I can build and race that thing by myself and my 8 year daughter is just about the right age to start her career in auto racing.

Thanks guys.. yeah I really just needed to vent.   Had dinner with family last night and my dad and I were laughing about most of it.

I am now planning to get the Spitfire to a race late 2014, be it Arse-Freeze @ Sonoma or maybe try Thunderhill since I have yet to drive there.  I will just start with some solid ground rules, make sure people get their own arrangements for a place to sleep, etc..

+1 on this.. My pops got me started in karts. Such an awesome idea to get your daughter into it, see if she likes it.  Road racing karts was fun, but when he took me to dirt oval with the kart, I still think to this day that was some of the most fun I have had in any type of motor vehicle.

We are hoping to step up our game and run two whole races next year, one of which will hopefully be Thunderhill. I don't think we would take the Mini, but if we get the Landcrab sorted, we hope to bring it down.