Ur thoughts on job of a Flag Man

That's a thoughtful response...

how about:

insure karts are in proper starting order before green/restarts

initiate start of race, caution, move over flag, red flag, black flag, white & checkered when appropriate

insure safe & orderly race conditions by enforcing rules before, during, & after the race
 
put up with racers who spin... who want to go back to the position they were in before the spin...

at one local dirt track we visit some (cars) they don't throw yellows much... they throw reds usually... stop at the flagstand they reline em up and restart next lap in proper order... their program ends an hour earlier than any other track around... very well run track and cheap concessions and the stands are full
 
I have assisted flagging over the years and spent this whole season flagging for sprints on dirt without an assistant in the flag stand... not my preference, but this is what the track wanted.

my number one responsibility is to make sure we have the safest run race possible given the nature of the sport.. i don't hesitate to toss out a yellow..
direct traffic as needed.. this requires the drivers to check the flag stand every few laps.. some drivers have told me they never check the flag stand, they only watch the lights.. this is especially bad on the drivers part... but they will do what they choose till they get the black flag...

let drivers know where they are on lap counts, when i can get the scoring to work with me.. i like to give the 1/2 way then either 10 or 5 to go... then usually white and checker... the ownership wanted me to give two sticks up for 2 to go then white and checker...

good communication between the flag stand and drivers is a must for the safest, best run shows.

MY.02
 
I have assisted flagging over the years and spent this whole season flagging for sprints on dirt without an assistant in the flag stand... not my preference, but this is what the track wanted.

my number one responsibility is to make sure we have the safest run race possible given the nature of the sport.. i don't hesitate to toss out a yellow..
direct traffic as needed.. this requires the drivers to check the flag stand every few laps.. some drivers have told me they never check the flag stand, they only watch the lights.. this is especially bad on the drivers part... but they will do what they choose till they get the black flag...

let drivers know where they are on lap counts, when i can get the scoring to work with me.. i like to give the 1/2 way then either 10 or 5 to go... then usually white and checker... the ownership wanted me to give two sticks up for 2 to go then white and checker...

good communication between the flag stand and drivers is a must for the safest, best run shows.

MY.02

thanks for the input
 
I was just joking.

Expectations of my flaggers are (outside of the obvious, using proper flags) to determine a "good" start and call back a "bad" start. If I see a start I don't like, I'll call it back. Otherwise, I rely on my head flagger to make that call.

Scoring, lineups, etc, thats not a flaggers responsibility. Thats the job of the scorers and race director. It's everyone's responsibility (head flag, corner flag, and race director) to call for yellows when incidents occur. Additionally, move over flags, black flags, etc are the responsibility of mostly the race director and the corner flaggers. I don't expect my head flagger to give black flags or rolled black flags. There job is to flag the race, not watch for aggressive driving (my job)

This is based on my experience as a race director for 3 years at our local track, and the race director for the PA Maxxis Series.
 
I flagged car racers for a lot of years and I also kept one thing in mind while flagging... keeping the show moving right along so that paying spectators didn't get bored while watching. No undo waiting for a car to make it on the track in a timely fashion, getting cars off the track that somehow caused multiple caution flags, no unnecessary delays between events. People want to get home at a decent hour after the races. I found that if a racer missed a race just one time because he failed to get ready he might whine a bit but he never did it again. Same with the spinout kings. I was at a kart race recently where they stopped everything for most of an hour just so they could hold 2 foot races around a 500 foot track. Ridiculous.
 
I flagged a race once. Never had a bad word to say about a flagman ever again. It's a tough job, and there's a lot going on. Flagman is "supposed" to catch everything but it's just not possible. I'm thankful for people who love racing but don't race so us racers can race.
 
A good flagman is able to anticipate a situation before it happens and then be ready to control that if possible. Using the flags in a distinct, demanding manner is a message that the drivers will recognize and hopefully understand that the flagman means business. The flagman should take control of the race from start to finish and when it comes time to administer discipline do it in an aggressive manner so that not just the disciplined driver see's it but others around him. The control of the race is determined by the flagman. Many of the incidents that take place on the track is a direct result of the flagman not doing his job. It takes a lot of " well you know" to do the job and there aren't a lot of good ones out there.
 
In that order....our son in 1st and 2nd place crossed the finish line. Everyone took the white. Checkered flag came out our son won. A kart spun out in turn 1 and flagman waved yellow checkers. Karts starting pulling off then the flag man gave the signal line them back up and had the karts come back from pits and did green white checkered restart. Our son had to 2nd because he passed for the lead on the white flag and they went back a lap on restart. Then on restart 1st place blocked him and we got 2nd. We weren't very happy as you imagine. Everyone in pits including other dad of kid that won said we should have had it. I wanted to go to to flag man and tell him thanks for taking away a win from my son but I bit my lip.
 
In that order....our son in 1st and 2nd place crossed the finish line. Everyone took the white. Checkered flag came out our son won. A kart spun out in turn 1 and flagman waved yellow checkers. Karts starting pulling off then the flag man gave the signal line them back up and had the karts come back from pits and did green white checkered restart. Our son had to 2nd because he passed for the lead on the white flag and they went back a lap on restart. Then on restart 1st place blocked him and we got 2nd. We weren't very happy as you imagine. Everyone in pits including other dad of kid that won said we should have had it. I wanted to go to to flag man and tell him thanks for taking away a win from my son but I bit my lip.

That really stinks. I had a similar thing happened where I was in turn 3 coming for the checker and someone wrecked and they did a green white checkered. Cost me 500 as I got moved on the restart but that’s racing. IMO, if the leader gets the white flag, the next flag ends the race
 
In that order....our son in 1st and 2nd place crossed the finish line. Everyone took the white. Checkered flag came out our son won. A kart spun out in turn 1 and flagman waved yellow checkers. Karts starting pulling off then the flag man gave the signal line them back up and had the karts come back from pits and did green white checkered restart. Our son had to 2nd because he passed for the lead on the white flag and they went back a lap on restart. Then on restart 1st place blocked him and we got 2nd. We weren't very happy as you imagine. Everyone in pits including other dad of kid that won said we should have had it. I wanted to go to to flag man and tell him thanks for taking away a win from my son but I bit my lip.

We had a foster son once years ago and we went to this outlaw track. He lapped the entire field and the 2nd place guy who he just lapped, spun out on the last lap. The scorer put the guy who just spun back in front of him. He knew he lapped him so he didn't try to pass him and it would have been his first win but they gave it to the lapped kart. Sad thing was, I loaned the guy a set of tires and he wouldn't admit he got lapped. I won my class so I gave him my trophy. Better for him to see class than something that rhymes with class.
 
I say the flagman ( and I have been one) should be allowed a high caliber weapon to deal with problems. maybe a 357 or 45. Problems will go away.
 
Track owners should give the flagman complete authority to run the races as he deems right. And pay him to do it. Kartings problem is that the flagman (in most cases) is somebodys pal or relative who does it just to help some track owner out. When the poop hits the fan the owner jumps in, says 'he's just helping us out' and reverses a decision because it makes a racer who brings in bigger $$$ happy.
 
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