Guidelines for hosting a mail-in tournament

72_Chevy_C10 Tuesday, 2/3/2015

Hi Guys,

The stars must have aligned during this past snow storm...emailing back and forth with Traction Event this morning lead to the topic of 'How to Host an Event'. And, maybe a half hour later, Brian (Vaughn, the guy that runs this site), sent me an email, asking if I could put together something on 'How to Host'...interesting, huh?

So, I can't really take credit for this post...it is mostly all put together by Traction Event.

I have also been thinking about posting some hosting rules for the new racers, or pinned on the main site. The first time I asked about hosting the was told…the 3 C’s look them over, see what you think, and add detail where needed…

Contributors: Traction Event, EconoCarl, 72_Chevy_C10. Editor: redlinederby

The 3 C's

Cash. There is financial responsibility with hosting. You are required to ship the cars to the next venue (on your dime). The trade-off for hosting is your cars get returned by the finals host for free.

Care. Treat every car sent to you as if it were your own. Set each car in the starting gate they way you would set your own. Pack and store the cars with care.

Consistency. Be sure your track is level, fair and has even lanes. Having a mechanical finish line should be a bare minimum, the cars we race are very close calling it by eye does not cut it. Electronic finish lines are preferred. Homebrew finish lines should be approved first.Track lanes should be free of harsh transitions, warp, etc.

Roles and Responsibilities

Race Organizer. Comes up with idea for a race, rules, prizes, scoring and lines up the hosts and dates. This person should also let racers know at the end of the series there is a $5 charge to get your cars shipped back. Not all hosts require the return money, but it is a nice gesture to provide the return money, if you are not hosting a race. The organizer is also responsible for shipping any prize to the winner(s).

First host. The first host numbers all cars, arranges the points spreadsheet (unless someone is doing the points other than the host), and series prizes. Each host afterwards will pack and ship to the next location on their dime.

Series hosts. Secondary hosts are stops along the way. These hosts are responsible for managing and scoring the brackets happening on the track while following the scoring and rules defined by the organizer. Series hosts should update the points spreadsheet. Series hosts are responsible for shipping all the cars to the next stop.

Finals host. The last track host is responsible for shipping individual cars back to their owners at their earliest convenience. While it is at the discretion of the host, if no return funds are sent by a car owner, the last host can keep the cars.

Returning cars to their owners

The host of the last race in a series must acquire a lot of small boxes along with packing materials and go to the post office to mail the cars back to each entrant. The total investment will be more than the other race hosts. It is suggested that entrants that don't host a race send $5 to the host of the last race (via Paypal or cash). This is not an effort for the last host to "break even", it's just an effort to keep the cost of being the last host in line with the other hosts.

So, basically, when you host a race, you are responsible for taking care of everyone's cars....from the fastest to the slowest! Treat them carefully and with respect...someone took a lot of care in putting that car together, try not to drop it on your basement floor!

Thanks Guys!

Any questions, please feel free to ask! 


Discussion

Thanks for the post, TE...and thanks for the Edit, Brian!

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model40fan 2/4/15

 just my $0.02 ... please get your cars to the 1st host  4 or 5 days early... give the host time to #, bracketize and photo the cars... last minute entries really create a pain for the 1st host... also do the same when a host sends them to the next host, get them out early... let's race !

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redlinederby 2/4/15
Site manager

Agreed. There should be a Deadline date for every mail-in...this date should be the day by which the hosts want the entries, which should probably be different than the race date itself. I would suggest having the deadline be a week early.

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