SPEAKER_02: 0:16

Hey everyone, welcome back to Trek Side the Podcast. I'm Jimmy Osborne.

SPEAKER_17: 0:21

And I'm Jessica Alfa.

SPEAKER_02: 0:23

And together we have been talking about motorsports marshaling for almost an entire year now, Jess. We are not quite finished with our first year. We've got uh this is episode 12 coming up, and uh we're gonna unload a surprise at the end of the podcast and tell you who will be on our 13th episode of the year. Honestly, Jess, it's been a really great year. I didn't uh I didn't think that this podcast would, you know, grow to you know smartless kinds of proportions, but you know, I mean I think a lot of people have figured out who we are, what we're talking about, and and have taken the time to listen, which I'm absolutely grateful for. But uh it's actually been quite a year and uh really, really amazing. So yeah, that's uh looking back on things as as we're gonna sort of do tonight or on this episode, we'll uh we'll take a look at some very interesting um things about the 2025 racing season. And uh there you have it. What are your thoughts about it all right now?

SPEAKER_17: 1:38

Yeah, it's been fun, and I think we kind of get into this in our in our season finale, which will be next. So we we don't need to get too much into it, but it's it's been it's been so fun and uh really enjoyed it. We we've gotten to uh this episode we're about to get into. We did something very unique and we we talked to a bunch of people, which we'll get and in at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which we'll get to when we kind of recap Vegas, but I think that's a great way. I think between this and our next episode, I think it's gonna be like a stellar way to close the first season. So, and yes, we are planning season two, which I think we're gonna start in in January 2026, right?

SPEAKER_02: 2:19

Sounds about right. Yeah, very cool. Well, what have we been doing since uh the Las Vegas Grand Prix? No, we're gonna come back to the Vegas Grand Prix, but as we record this, there's been a bunch of stuff happening at Coda and various places around the tracks that you and I work, Jess. Um so uh let's talk about some of the things that that uh we've done.

SPEAKER_17: 2:44

Yeah, well, I think I think it's only been one race for me.

SPEAKER_02: 2:48

For you, for you. I got to do WRL World Racing League at Coda, and uh and that was a lot of fun. That um was a real interesting race. I love endurance racing, and I love how WRL goes about it. You know, they've got two very long races. You basically go green at eight o'clock in the morning and you checker it at about five o'clock, or you know, I think it was four o'clock and three o'clock on respective Saturdays and Sundays, and everything in between is racing, and you know, that's a lot of fun, especially at that level. You see people who aren't professionals, you know, going through the the motions of learning how to be endurance race car drivers, and you know, there was some really good racing, it was a lot of fun. Uh, we ended up generally having pretty good weather, um, which is saying something for December in Austin, and it was a lot of fun. So glad to do that.

SPEAKER_17: 3:53

Yeah, I totally forgot about Def.

SPEAKER_02: 3:57

It's all good.

SPEAKER_17: 3:58

I know it wasn't even that long ago. I completely spaced that. Yes, we yes, we both we both work starred again. That was fun with with Perry, who was awesome to work with.

SPEAKER_18: 4:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_17: 4:06

And uh yeah, it was a great, it was a great weekend. I um, you know, yeah, enduro's uh man, I I I know you love enduro's. I I'm uh hitch.

SPEAKER_19: 4:17

Jessica's lesson membered.

SPEAKER_17: 4:19

I I think I'm I'm probably uh way too ADHD, probably for an enduro to be really good at like like blue flagging. Like I can only have so many leaders at once in my mind to be looking out for for blue flagging, so it's not my specialty. I need to work on them more. I'm I am aware of that. But yeah, no, yeah, WRL was fun, weather was good. Um, and then this past weekend at the time of this filming, we were both in uh P. Houston area for an SECA regional race um that they do every year around that time. And so um, what did you do for that one?

SPEAKER_02: 4:53

They called it the Chili Pepper Double. And um, actually, for that one, normally, in fact, I'll I'll tell a funny story. Carl Markey is the flag chief, and Carl Markey is a racer. Many of the marshals listening to this from the Texas area know Carl. He's well known in the Houston area, and he's the new flag chief for the Houston region. And um, I signed up to work a corner. I signed up on Motorsports Reg as an FNC marshal, and he wrote back and he said, Your registration is wrong, you need to fix it. Go in there and fix it. I said, No, Carl. I wrote him back. This is all by email, and I said, No, Carl, I'm actually signing up to be a marshal. You've got a start team, they're all good to go. It was uh Kevin Taylor, Perry, and um also Perry Muncy, and then also Nate Vincent came down from Hallett, all the way down from Hallett, a 10-hour drive to be a starter for that Houston race. So, yeah, that was pretty good. They were set on the start stand, they did not need me there. Um, I was there for other reasons, and so I thought, you know what, I'm just gonna put in the weekend at uh a corner, and so I did ask Carl as some something of a favor to put me at turn 15, which is across from the start stand, so I could kind of keep an eye on things, and um they did great. The start team is awesome. There, I didn't have any worries from them, and I actually got to spend a lot of time with some new marshals, so that was really cool. Um, obviously, we talked about the podcast a lot, but um got to visit with Maddie on Saturday, and Maddie and I worked together on Saturday, and uh she's a young marshal coming up through the ranks and just learning how to how to handle the SCCA flagging world, and then on Saturday, excuse me, on Sunday, um I was teamed up with Brad and a young guy named Sam, who was his first day as a marshal that day. Ever he had come out with some friends, first day ever, ever, and it was really neat because Brad is a really talented young marshal. He said that his uh weekend um last weekend was his first anniversary of marshalling, so he's been it a year, he um basically took care of the yellow flagging, which is you know the majority of the work at turn 15. And as uh we all learned, it's a it's a challenging corner to flag because of the flatness of um the MSR Houston racetrack. But anyway, so with Brad taking the bulk of the you know, paying attention and concentrating duties, I was able to spend a lot of time with Sam kind of talking him through what was going on and how things were working, and he knew the basics about flagging because his friends had told him that, and his friends were on other corners. But it was really neat to be able to see his eyes just go absolutely saucered, you know, when we'd have a spin or something like that. And you know, it was just kind of neat to see the world through the Marshall who's spending their first day out on a corner. Again, that was that was really neat, probably the highlight of my weekend.

SPEAKER_17: 8:17

Oh, that's awesome. I I'd heard from I think it was Carl and some others that we had quite a few new people, including a few um, you know, minors, you know, under under the age of 18, which is allowed with the SCCA if you have a minor waiver signed by your parents or guardians. So you can start pretty early.

SPEAKER_02: 8:36

Anyone's listening events. By all means, if you're listening to this and you want to start, you can work SCCA events with a minor waiver. Your parents have to sign off on it. And once you do that, it's just show up and learn the biz. And that's and you know, to his credit, Sunday was a rough day, weather wise. We had a cold front move in, it was cold. Honestly, Sam probably wasn't prepared for it like he he might have thought he was. High school kids think they're indestructible, but they get cold just like everybody else. So, you know, between Brad and I, we had a few extra jackets and some things to warm him up with. One of my Vegas hand warmers went to him, and you know, it was it was not a great day, but you know, I asked him, you know, as we were nearing the end of it, I said, Are you having a good day? And he goes, Absolutely, this is the best. So, you know what? That that that makes it all worth it.

SPEAKER_17: 9:32

Oh, absolutely. Oh, that's so cool. Um, that was a fun event. So I uh had an interesting uh weekend as well. So it was kind of funny. Our most recent episode, we talked about scrutineering. And in that episode, if you listened to it, you heard me say, I have never had anything to do with scrutineering. Well, I have now.

SPEAKER_02: 9:50

Jessica's checked the box.

SPEAKER_17: 9:52

Did not plan for this. Um, so I'm doing the steward in training program with SCCA. And uh sure enough, um, I I it was my turn to to do a tech steward rotation. And um it was it this, you know, it's the it's near the holidays. It's it's hard to get people at these events. So it was run as the small model that was fully disclosed, you know, we went on have a ton of people. And so yeah, it's we we were a little shorthanded. Um I kind of yeah, and and with tech as well. So we were we um, but we it it all went off. We it was good. So I got to, you know, normally I think a tech steward you'd be stewarding. So I did kind of step in and and be be a scrutineer myself a little bit, help push some cars onto scales and get the you know, all that kind of stuff, the the weights and all that with um the first day it was uh a couple people who were also new to that, um Indra and William, who both have, you know, Indra talked about she done F and C and some other stuff, but she's really interested in getting the scrutineering, so that's awesome. So she's on her way, and then uh guy named William who's done it for WEC. He's he's worked as a pit observer, I believe, among other things, and he's also a driver and stuff. So they were great to work with. And so we we we figured it out with the help from Paul and uh Randy and all of them. So it was really fun. So then the next day um we did we were able to pull a couple people in. Um Dave Drosti came over from Grid and then Deb from Registration came because they're both interested in learning more about tech as well. So it was a great weekend for lots of people to kind of get their feet wet with that. And so um yeah, it was cool. So I would do it again. I could definitely see how you know Adam talked so much about, you know, we don't do any of the scales anymore. I can definitely see pros and cons with that. Because, you know, yes, I understand it's fun to get to do stuff, but you know, with for us, one of the interesting things is so we have these scales and the car, you're you're supposed to, you know, push the car up onto the scales. Um, the first day it was kind of wet, so it was so slippy slidey we had to kind of have them drive up a few times. But anyway, you have to kind of adjust them, those pads that they sit on.

SPEAKER_02: 12:07

Different cars are different sizes.

SPEAKER_17: 12:09

Yes. And so if you have, you know, for this event, we had multi-classes in these groups, right? So we had like six different groups. Some of them are like the alphabet soup as they call it. We have like, I don't know, 10 different classes that can be in this group. And so if they when they come into impound at the end, it's okay, we gotta hang on, hold, we gotta change the scale, right? The wheelbase and all that kind of stuff. So it was interesting happening to do all of that. So yeah, it was it was cool. So I would I would be interested in in learning more of that. Just I mean, I I know nothing about cars. That's that's my downfall with screw nearing because like I wouldn't have the slightest idea what was non-compliant. That's the only thing. So I was very grateful we had more you know, people in charge of that piece.

SPEAKER_19: 12:55

Right.

SPEAKER_17: 12:55

But I was glad for the rot to get to that rotation. It was cool to see that.

SPEAKER_02: 12:59

That's cool.

SPEAKER_17: 13:00

Yeah, it was fun. But I think we should get to the main event of this episode, which is which is Vegas. Yes, yes, Vegas Grand Prix. So I I thought it was fun. I had a good time.

SPEAKER_02: 13:14

I was gonna say, no, you're under no pressure. You can be completely honest. But uh Jessica worked as my deputy starter, and uh that was that's a big big set of shoes to fill, and you did a great job.

SPEAKER_17: 13:27

Oh, thank you. It was fun. Well, I learned from the best, so yeah, it was a good weekend. We got it was you, me, and the Californians on the start team, and I think we'll be hopefully getting to chat with them on a future episode as well, Marsha and Terry.

SPEAKER_02: 13:40

Yeah, so that was at the end of this one.

SPEAKER_17: 13:42

Yes, that's right. Yes, more on that in a little bit, but uh yeah, it was a lot of fun. Um, yeah, there was not too many sessions. You know, Vegas historically doesn't have a ton of support series just because of the restrictions on with the city, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 13:57

Well that and it's late in the year, a lot of seasons have finished. Um, so yeah, the the support series was the F1 Academy, but I think that was a shrewd move. You know, I think the Academy is a great program for F1 and the FIA. Um, I think the more exposure you give the F1 Academy in the US, the better. And frankly, the weather didn't let them show up very well in Miami. So I was glad to see it. And I was really glad to hand you guys the flags for for that. Uh made sure that you waved the flag for the F1 Academy.

SPEAKER_17: 14:35

Well, I didn't get to wave the flag.

SPEAKER_02: 14:37

I know, I know. Sorry about that, but sometimes those things happen.

SPEAKER_17: 14:42

Um, Hello Kitty got to wave the flag uh for for the race that I was in the celebrity, and they didn't know. She was the celebrity. Um, no hard feelings to Hello Kitty. It's fine. I'll get over it, I'll pick up the pieces and move on. But it was no, it was fun. And then the second one, we had uh one of the WNBA players from the Vegas team, she waved it, and it was funny. I was on comms for that one, and they had her and then Lee from the FIA starter, one of the starters, and then they had then we had Terry up there who was waving the flag for the rest of the race, and then we had the cameraman and then me.

SPEAKER_02: 15:20

And so I was and people need to understand that the finish stand in Vegas is a half booth, so the large stand that if you've seen the start stand at an a usual race, including at Coda, the start stand is a square. Well, in Vegas, the finish stand is half of that square, it's a tiny little place. They put a lot of people into that tiny little box.

SPEAKER_17: 15:50

Yes, I was wedged up against the back like with my hand like on the I it's hard to describe without seeing it, but I had my finger on the button for the landline box to talk because I was on comms. I couldn't see it. I'm just I had to tell the cameraman, I was like, I just I just need my hand on this button. I was just wedged up against the back of it, and that was it. I couldn't really see what was going on. Uh, but we yeah, we we made it through. But yeah, it was it was really fun. And uh yeah, it was great to be back outside again. You know, it was great to see. I still got to see all my erase control pals. They came out for a group. I we took their group photo for them, so it was nice to see all them, but it was cool to be outside for that one. I did miss that from last year.

SPEAKER_02: 16:33

Well, Jessica is a person in high demand along the pit straight for um Formula One event. So I'm glad you had a great time. Uh I was really proud of the team, they did a great job. Marsha Ulis, who um is Marsha is the start chief for the SCCA runoffs, and uh that's a different kettle of fish entirely. And so I think we're gonna have to have an episode with Marsha to talk about how the runoffs work and you know SCCA in different parts of the country, um, maybe even different parts of the world. That's kind of uh one of our thoughts for next year about a possible episode um talking about start in specific. But uh in any case, she did a great job. She's the chief starter at uh Sonoma and um for the SCCA runoffs, so it was really, really great. Everybody, it looked like from my vantage point, had a successful race. Um, pit grid, you know, clean as always. And boy, they had some tricky stuff going on with F1 Academy. Yep, you know, they had a couple of stalls on pit grid or on the grid, which are always hairy moments for the PPG team. So yeah, it was a wild weekend for all. A couple of recoveries on pit grid, too, from of crash cars and various things. So yeah, busy busy.

SPEAKER_17: 18:00

They always do a great job, though. Tony Berkey, an alum of the show, and she was their chief this year, and uh yeah, they all they all do a great job as always, unsurprisingly, of course. But yeah, no, it was really fun. Uh, we did get to go to Ellis Island afterwards.

SPEAKER_02: 18:14

Uh yep, Jessica's treating us to the uh sights and sounds of a local, but it was actually really good. I I I enjoyed myself a great deal.

SPEAKER_17: 18:24

Yeah, that was fun. No, it was a good weekend, and uh fun fact, I will be back in Las Vegas uh the day after tomorrow at the time of this recording.

SPEAKER_02: 18:31

I know exactly, which is why Jessica's emailing me constantly. We gotta get this recorded and finished up before I leave. But uh so overall though, I thought that that the third edition of the LVGP was probably the best one. It was awesome. Yeah, you know, I I found that the third year of an event um really is it takes that long for kind of everything to to you know settle into to its routine, and you know, everybody's kind of on top of things, and boy, they I think LVGP really knocked it out of the park this year. Yes, I thought it was very smooth.

SPEAKER_17: 19:09

Yeah, they're they're they've hit their stride. I mean, this I feel like it's always been great with them. I mean, they've they've treated the Marshalls really well. I feel like like the swag.

SPEAKER_02: 19:18

Oh my goodness, the swag is incomparable. It's kind of hard, you know, because everybody says, Well, you can't wear swag from other tracks and other events at coda, you know, and and that's fair, but it's kind of hard because they give you such good cold weather gear in Vegas when it's cold at Coda, that's the best stuff to grab, and it's all Vegas. But yeah, you know, it is what it is.

SPEAKER_17: 19:44

Well, for us, I think a lot of the the uh intervention in FNC got the orange, the safety orange. So those are more those are great. Yeah, we don't we don't get the I'm not complaining, but uh yeah, for us where it's emblazoned L V GP, yeah, yeah, it's gotta we gotta be careful. I actually Want to wear it back to Vegas this weekend, but I I don't I don't feel like I look like an idiot walking around.

SPEAKER_02: 20:05

No, I think you look pretty normal. So speaking of Vegas, we did something really, really cool. And Jess, you were the the heart and soul of this, but we had an idea. So our idea was that we wanted to kind of uh introduce the podcast listeners who come from all over the world to the Vegas Marshals, and we thought the best way to do that would be to stick a microphone in their face, and that's exactly what we did. So Jess is the social butterfly of the two of us. I'm perfectly content to hang against the wall and just watch. But uh Jess um got a couple of microphones, and she recorded a lot of these little things on her phone, and uh she just went around. Some were our friends, some were cold calls, if you will. You know, folks we just walked up to because they looked interesting, or somebody pointed them out and said, You might want to talk to those people. Um it was really neat. It was uh quite a quite an assemblage of the uh traffic cones that we talked to in the Las Vegas ballroom, the Egyptian ballroom of the Luxor Hotel.

SPEAKER_17: 21:18

It was so fun. And um, yes, I I really enjoyed it. They completely exceeded my expectations of what we were expecting. You know, we went around and we're we're gonna show you guys in a little bit what that sounded like, but you know, it was pretty much tell us about either your origin story or just something unique, interesting, a cool experience, funny, whatever you want to tell us about. And we didn't get anything close to being the same thing twice. Everything was very unique. Um, and just some were so like, you know, oh, that gives you goosebumps hearing that. You know, you we'll get to those in a minute, but very cool and just um just goes to show what a cool community this is. You know, with all the Marshalls, they do it because they love it. They're very supportive of each other. You know, we do I was thrilled to get to come across a few brand new, never done this before Vegas people, which was awesome. And kind of hearing their perspective and hearing them talk about how welcomed they felt, you know, which is this is so cool. You know, I was thinking you kind of talking about reflecting on this whole year. And the one thing I can tell you, it just it's made me think about I did come from the music world before I got into this, and and not to disparage anyone I worked with there, but there is a huge difference, I think, between the two. And one of which is being that I don't feel there's a competitive nature here because people do this because they love it, and this is a hobby and not so much as something that it's like paying their bills. So, you know, there's a lot of people we get here that it's like they do this because they want to do it, and so it's not this oh. They're paying to do it in a lot of cases, they're paying to do it, but it's also it's not that none of this competitive of I don't want to tell you all my trade secrets because then you're gonna come in swoop in and apply for that job that I want. And so I I I don't know what made me think of that, but it was just kind of one of those things like I don't I wasn't hearing that, and I don't get that impression from people. They are very welcoming and very open to mentoring these new people and everyone, and just you know, everyone was so I don't know. I that's it was very cool. I don't know if you feel the same way, just everyone just seems so open to helping each other out and welcome. Yeah. So anyway, we tried them off topic, but no, not at all.

SPEAKER_02: 23:34

We tried to make sure we got a sampling of everything. We wanted to get US Marshals and international marshals, something that Vegas has gotten a bad rap for. Um, but they do have international marshals. We tried to get as many as we could on the on the recordings. Um, we got pit grid, we got F and C, of course, everywhere, but we've got a few of the uh you got uh Mary in race control, you got um got TSP's intervention.

SPEAKER_17: 24:08

I think we got every specialty except race scrutineering, I think.

SPEAKER_02: 24:12

Everything except scrutineering, and we could have had more in race control, but race control they stay in a separate hotel, and so they're they weren't around when we were recording. But um we got Mary.

SPEAKER_17: 24:23

She was still married in that.

SPEAKER_02: 24:25

I think that was great. It was actually a surprise when I was listening to them all. I was like, oh, she got married. Because Jessica, like I said, she's the social butterfly, so she went off and did a lot of these uh solo, which is just fine with me. Um but anyway, so there's uh a lot in these you'll you'll hear, and and you have to understand as you're listening to this that we're recording these in the large Egyptian ballroom of the Luxor Hotel. The acoustics aren't great, the microphones aren't great, the recording environment is far from perfect. Um different people hold the microphone differently close or far away from themselves, so the audio levels will be a little inconsistent. Um the background noise in some of them is really heavy because there's bus announcements and other things happening. So there's a lot going on as you listen to this. But one of the things I hope is that you'll listen to these stories and find some people that may be close to you that you didn't know, or you know, their story of what they've done in the past resonates with you, or hey, that person came from XYZ place, maybe I can you know find out their name and you know, look for them at the next F1 event and uh hook up with them and learn, you know, how to do those kinds of things. So you know, that's what we hope you'll enjoy. These uh uh Marshalls are telling their own stories. And uh honestly Though it's a pain to produce, I hope we do more events like this in the future, and uh your feedback will help guide us as to whether or not that's something worth doing. But uh uh let's take a listen to the Marshalls of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2025.

SPEAKER_11: 26:17

Hi, I'm Chaeline Condeden. I'm from Portland International Raceway, and I'm working in an intervention. I got started in marshalling. It's funny, I was taking my dog for a walk through a car show. He was drooling over this this uh triumph, beautiful car, and I feel this tap on my shoulder. Look over, there's this elderly man who says, Oh no, no, no, honey, that's not what you want to look at. You want to look at this. And I about fell over. It was an Aston Martin, 1958 Aston Martin, all original, imported from England, gorgeous car, and I was really into Moto GP at the time. My friend, I made he introduced me to his daughter. She said, Oh yeah, I'll introduce you to the guys at AMRA, and they'll they'll take you under their ring. So she took me out to PIR, got on print on a pre-grid, and I have never left. That's my oh my god. And then the funniest thing that's ever happened was my grid chief and I were walking down the grid, grid in cars, and here it was like a mirage, it was a hot air. It's like a mirage, this car came tooling toward us real slow. It was a hearse. And considering all the cars that were lined up were vintage, everybody like their eyes were as big as saucers. Like, dude, you have to go park that car somewhere where nobody can see it. So that's the story.

SPEAKER_25: 27:53

Hi, it's Steve Collie. So I come here from the Denver, Colorado area, and I absolutely love being a Formula One EPG Marshal. My background is such that I've been in racing since I was nine years old. I uh raced motorcycles professionally for Team Kawasaki, uh, spent roughly 20 years as a consultant to the IndyCar business, um, Champ Car and IndyCar, designing and building tracks for the street races for IndyCar. And uh now here I am. I've moved up. I've got promoted to Formula One. Uh so it's been a few years now, and I really, really enjoy it. The team is just amazing. Such great people, so much knowledge, many, many years of experience. And uh I I can't imagine another thing I would rather do on the weekends.

SPEAKER_20: 28:50

Hello, my name is Mary Deung. I am from I'm gonna say Green Bay, Wisconsin. It's De Pierre but nobody knows where De Pier is, and everybody knows where Green Bay is. Um, I am in the race control, I am the second corner communicator. Um I got started in Marshalling in about 1987 when I went with my then husband, who was an IT driver, and within the first year, he had been doing it for a number of years, but in his first year, he got known as the guy who came to the track with Mary. My name's Jessica, full name Jessica Miller, government name.

SPEAKER_22: 29:25

My uh home track is Sonoma Raceway and Laguna Seca. Here in Vegas, I am on the PPG team, and today's assignment I will be the starting grid position for position 12 in the Formula Academy race, which will be a lot of fun. And uh probably my coolest experience while in the motorsport world is not when I was marshaling, is when I was doing logistics for marshalling. And during the NASCAR race, we got permission from the director to drive counter down the drag strip at Sonoma Raceway as the entire field was coming up the front straight during one of the stage restarts. Um, and that was a very unique experience. Not many people can say they've done that.

SPEAKER_04: 30:10

Hello everyone, everybody. My name is Rudy Barrow. I am a local here in Las Vegas. Uh I am actually one of the first Las Vegas marshals that we had um in our class. So uh it's it's a great thing we have going on here. So um I've been doing quite a lot of uh stuff recently and uh upcoming stuff, which is great. We uh possibly have a marshalling opportunity for a bunch of folks on the island of Barbados uh in 2026 in October. Uh more for that to come up. Hopefully have more information on that, but it's a great opportunity. Um, I've had a great time here. This is my second FM race. I've been doing this now for a year. I've done indie races now as well. Uh I've been exposed everything from flagging to comms to uh TXP as well. And so looking forward to what's coming up in 2026, and um just happy and excited as always.

SPEAKER_31: 31:04

How's it going, listeners? I'm Brian Phillips. I'm from Homestead and Minus Fiway. I am on turn three on the radio. One time in Steve Ring, I was uh I was flagging turn 11 and I had an awning come flying over the uh catch fence and onto the racing line. It was big enough to be uh yellow, but I put out the debris flag. I wasn't sure what to really do or how to handle that situation. Uh, best of luck with everyone this weekend. I'm so happy to be here.

SPEAKER_16: 31:33

Hi, my name is Christy Hopkins. My hometown is Golden Colorado. Home track is High Plains Raceway, home of the uh BFE Grand Prix. My Vegas assignment is 4.1 radio. Um I tell you my favorite story. So when I was in Nashville working IndyCar, the Firebird, the Firebird was up in the stands behind me, and I was like, hey bird, hey bird. And um later on in the day when I was writing down uh the fast six, I hadn't realized that he had actually come and was standing beside me at my turn, and so I showed him the fast six, and I just he's just so cute. And so anyway, I had a great selfie where he and I, and then I gave him a little kiss and he blushed. It was very sweet, and he walked away and he had the cutest little tail, and um that was one of my greatest, that was just fun, darn fun, and uh flagging. I've been doing this 30 years now, and and so my highlights meeting a darn firebird. I just well, not one of them, but I just love that part.

SPEAKER_08: 32:36

Hi, I'm Aaron McFarland.

SPEAKER_03: 32:38

And I'm Jerry McFarland. And our hometown is Pueblo, Colorado, which happens to be home track of Puzzle Water Sports Park at 2.25 road course and direct strip.

SPEAKER_08: 32:52

Um, so our Vegas assignment this year is the exciting 15.1 I will be comms this year.

SPEAKER_03: 32:59

Woohoo! And I'm gonna be yellow flag.

SPEAKER_08: 33:03

Um so interesting story about how we got started marshalling.

SPEAKER_03: 33:07

Okay, here she goes.

SPEAKER_08: 33:09

Um our home track of Pueblo Motorsports Park was looking for marshals for a NASA race, I believe. And I was all on board with it. They're like, Aaron, you need to get your dad to come down, and he's like, No, I want to do tech. And so they were on me for quite a few days to get him to come down to do it with us, and finally got him to relent, and now and here we are, and I actually have more races than she does under my belt. Just because you like to do open lapping on the weekdays, and uh formally the one and only race that I didn't go to with you. But yeah, that's how we got into it.

SPEAKER_03: 33:57

Yes, and this whole big family, it we love everybody here, and it is great, and it's great to come here and just see people that we haven't seen for half a year.

SPEAKER_08: 34:07

It is really fun. The three races a year, and you get to see all of the same faces.

SPEAKER_21: 34:12

Hello everyone. My name is Cindy Wisner. My hometown is Detroit, Michigan, and my home track is a small club track, Waterford Hills road racing, but I'm also the flag chief for the Detroit Grand Prix. So I organize the street races that come in for Indian IMSA. I'm a chief postmarshal here at 15.1 in Las Vegas, and I got started because my husband and I each have a Acura NSX. We went out on hot laps and enjoyed our NSX Club of America at various tracks for the annual meeting, and I wanted to keep coming to the tracks, so I signed up with my friends and uh volunteered.

SPEAKER_34: 34:50

Hi, my name is Eric Novikoff. I am the SECA Las Vegas region flag starter chief. I'm currently working post 14.0 right as lead intervention at the Las Vegas Formula One race. How did I get started in marshalling? Well, I used to be able, I used to do racing just like a lot of people did, and then uh realized I wasn't fast enough to kind of keep up with the younger kids. So I thought it would be really helpful to take my talents and my experience and go to the side of the track and help them out with letting them know about incidences or situations around the next corner and still get to actually be on the track. You know, technically I'm not driving, but it's still the best seat to watch the cars go around really fast. And you get to see some really cool stuff. One of the best things that I've had while I've been marshalling is I was working indie car at Long Beach, California, and I was able to be in the start stand as uh a radio communicator, and I was able to meet Aaron Likens, who is the chief flagger for the IndyCar races, and was able to meet him, and you know, he's a really nice guy, really great and attentive, um, has a very distinct flagging style, the way that he waves the flags. And I've actually kind of tried to imitate him a little bit, and he's kind of like my hero when it comes to displaying flags for the racers from the start stand. So I'm really hoping one day to be able to actually be up there and throw the checker flags down for uh a race and have him come by and say he really liked the way I was doing it.

SPEAKER_12: 36:32

Hi, my name is Ian Begg. I'm from uh Glasgow in Scotland. Uh my Vegas assignment is uh pit and grid. Uh how I got started in marshalling. Well, I went to a local racetrack, uh, loved watching racing, and then I seen them advertising for marshals, gave it a try, and that was in 1996, and I haven't looked back since.

SPEAKER_24: 36:57

Hi, my name is Joy Minito. I'm uh from Montreal, Canada. My home track is uh Sept Cruisier Veneuve. My Vegas assignment is uh Pit and Grid. Uh my funniest or coolest moment in marshalling was uh my first year being a scrutineer in Montreal. I was sitting sitting in the back of the uh Williams garage, and uh Frank Williams rolls up to me and uh basically asks me to uh to feel myself at home and uh enjoy anything that I wanted in this garage. So it's probably my coolest experience in uh F1.

SPEAKER_15: 37:29

Hi, my name is Kira Collins, and I am from Denver, Colorado. My home track is the High Plains Raceway, which is in Byers, Colorado. My current Vegas assignment is TSP number three. And how did I get started in the marsh rolling? I um started watching Moto GP back in the early 2000s, and I was dating a guy from the Czech Republic, and he was like, Hey, if you like Moto GP, I think you would like Formula One. And I was like, What is Formula One? And we watched the first race, and I slapped him and asked him, Why hadn't you shown this to me earlier? So once I got into Formula One, um, I at the time there was no American race, and then they were building the Circle of the Americas, and so Canada was the closest at the time. And then when they did build the Circle of Americas, I was like, okay, how do I get there for cheap or free? And um started researching. And back then there was like no research on marshalling. Like you looked up corner marshalling, there were like really old blogs by maybe one guy who was like, This is how you're international, Marshall. And I was like, no, how do I local? Um, so after some very thorough research of not very many results, but figuring out um starting with my local track and moving up from there. Uh, I started with SCCA um at the High Plains in Colorado, as mentioned, and then I applied for Vegas last year for the first time and got accepted, and now here I am.

SPEAKER_29: 39:02

Good morning. My name is Valerie Farrett, and I am from the DC region representing Summit Point in West Virginia, and I currently am Chief of Pitt at Summit Point. And my Vegas assignment, I am Deputy Chief of Radio and Communications, and I love what I do. And I started in this biz working emergency services at Summit Point.

SPEAKER_23: 39:32

Okay, good morning. My name is Mark Lynn. My hometown is San Francisco, and I belong to SCCA San Francisco region. And my Vegas assignment here is I'm doing 129 flagging. I'm doing blue flagging today. And how did I get into marshalling? I was recruited from San Jose State. I was with um uh Formula SAE team at San Jose State, and we were volunteering. Cheering for the San Francisco region and tried it once and kept coming back. So it's a good experience, and I'm staying.

SPEAKER_13: 40:08

Hi, my name is Amy Grotheson. I'm from Houston, Texas, and my home track is MSR in Las Vegas this year. I'm working turn 14 as the communications marshal. The funniest and coolest experience that I've ever had on track was when I was proposed to by surprise in Miami 2023.

SPEAKER_05: 40:28

Hi, my name's Elizabeth Winnie Ars. I live in Massachusetts. The tracks that I started flagging at are New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Lime Rock, Thompson Speedway, Palmer, all of these are local tracks for me. Now I've been flagging for nearly 15 years. I started off going to Flag and Fire School with the Sports Car Club of America. So if you want to get started, that's a good place to get going. And now I travel around, I go to Florida to Daytona in January for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. I go to Seabring. I go to Road Atlanta for Petite Lamont. So if you'd like to get involved with something like that here at Las Vegas, I'm operating one of the light panels around the track, Driver C.

SPEAKER_27: 41:16

Hi, I'm Mike Bernardo from Las Vegas, Nevada. And this is my first Las Vegas Grand Prix and first flagging race ever. So I uh started as part of the part of the local Marshalls program here. Um was accepted as part of you know several hundred people that have applied for it. Uh and I'm really excited for this to be my first opportunity flagging with Formula One. It's like jumping right into the Super Bowl. Uh it's really crazy. It's an amazing community here. Uh the camaraderie and just the community here around flagging intervention, uh, race officials, and all the sports club car uh enthusiasts from around the country that are here. It's been an amazing experience. I got into flagging. I've been a motorsports enthusiast my entire life. Um, and I'm very focused on sustainability in my professional capacity, and that's what I saw Formula One doing. Uh, I've worked with them on the professional side on some of their sustainability initiatives. Uh, and when the opportunity came for the local Marshall program and to volunteer my time and be part of this amazing race, uh it's a dream come true. So that's my story.

SPEAKER_07: 42:26

My name is Luis Samora. Uh my home track is Coda. Uh I believe that's where I we we know each other. Um, my Vegas assignment is Flag Marshall Um yellow flag um at 17.4 this year. And how did I get started in marshalling? The way that I got started was because I was a little too cheap to pay for a F1 ticket. And so I started looking up ways to get into F1 for free. And the best way, the best way was getting into the SCCA program and getting into like those um local tracks and then hopefully getting approved for um an F1 event. And my first race was Coda, um, NASCAR in just last two years ago. And um from there I was just hooked. Um and then F1 Vegas last year was my first one that I did, and that was 13.8. So at the back of the of the um Las Vegas strip. And like for me that was the coolest because I got to see like firsthand view of like these F1 cars, and kind of like my dream became a reality of like going to an F1 race, but you know, behind the scenes, you know, you get to meet new people, do a bunch of cool things, and not a lot of people get to do that. Um we're just a select few. So I feel like that's super cool. And we got to see the fireworks in the background of all the hotels and everything, and um I think yeah, that was the coolest experience that I've had so far um here.

SPEAKER_33: 44:04

Well, good morning. I'm Walter, I'm an Italian immigrant to Canada, live most of my life in Montreal. Um, but my home track is uh Abu Dhabi, Emirates, United Arab Emirates. And back in 2011, I was at the rugby club uh in Alane on the board of the Sultanate of Oman, where the expats, which are very few of us in this Muslim country, were able to drink alcohol and have quiz nights. And the head of uh the veterinary of the Alain Zoo came up to me, a British gal, lovely gal, and said, We're short of people at the Ask Marina to do the F1. I said, I don't know anything, I don't even watch it on TV. Last time I raced, I was 18 years old on the water cross in Duro. So no, we'll train you, we train you. And we went and I loved it and met so many people from every walk of life. I mean, architects, CEOs, we even have a nobleman in our group, uh scientists, lawyers, every every layer of society. And uh now I'm doing my 52nd uh F1 here at uh Las Vegas, and I really invite people to join. You're gonna love it.

SPEAKER_01: 45:34

Hi, my name is Lokesh uh Loki. So right now, uh my home track is the close one is Austin, Dakota is my home track, and my current Vegas assignment right now is 17.4. I'm an intervention marshal. Uh it's a great view from there. I did not expect such a great view for my assignment. Uh the coolest thing that uh I've been so far, it was this year in the Miami Grand Prix. Uh it during the drivers parade, it was an amazing driver's parade because it this was the first time where all the F1 drivers were actually driving Lego cars. And uh the funniest thing there was I happened to have a checked flag with me at turn 9. So I was waving the checkered flag to these Lego cars at turn 9, and these guys were going on hitting each other. So that was it, that was the coolest and the funniest moment for me. And it's it's just epic for to see the first Lego Grand Prix during that time.

SPEAKER_30: 46:36

So yeah, that's that. Hi, my name is Evan Brown. My hometown is Frisco, Texas, the home of the Dallas Cowgirls. I'm in Dallas Cowboys with the way they're playing right now. Um, so Coda is my home track, and I actually got started in marshalling through Moto GP, being a track marshal, running around, picking up motorcycles. Uh, did my first F1 race in 2017. I've been doing interventions since. Um always it's fun every year, whether it's here, Miami, uh, Kota, Vegas, wherever. Um, probably the best story is working pit in this year because we're doing a lot of different things. We're doing some crowd control uh with the people that come through right next to us for the uh F1 experience. Uh, we're also working with the PPG team, and then we're also doing our regular marshalling. So it's kind of a mixed bag of nuts. There's quite a few nuts around. That's a joke. No, everyone on the PPG team is so awesome. Um, seeing a lot of people come through with for the F1 experience, and uh one of my female marshals, she made the comment the other day, Evan, I've seen several purses here that cost more than my car. So lots of just silly money that people have to spend down here, but it's great working fit in. And I want to give a quick shout-out to Brian Pitts. I was bummed to see him go back home yesterday, but he really let me pick his brain yesterday and the day before. Uh, everyone on the team is great, but just a special shout out to Brian, because he he was a big help uh getting used to all this.

SPEAKER_06: 48:01

Hi, uh, my name is Dominique Smith. Uh this is actually my home track uh at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It'll be my first time doing it. Um I'm at post 17.4 uh as a blue flagger. So very interesting experience. Um, and this is pretty much what got me into marshalling. Wanting just to be close to the racetrack, see fast cars for the first time being around some great guys that have been doing it for a long time. So uh definitely an amazing experience. Uh learned a lot, having a great time. Uh I don't really have anything cool as I guess this is my first time, um, but I'm I'm just enjoying it every bit of it. So thank you guys, appreciate it.

SPEAKER_18: 48:39

Of course not in no worries. How did you find out about this?

SPEAKER_06: 48:43

You know, I actually started, uh I just did a random Google search. Hey, I wanted to learn to get on track and I wanted to be part of the motor supports team. I was like, how do I do it? So I first went in through uh my Las Vegas region at SECA. Then I did one flagging event with them, but then I also found out that F1 Marshalls was was sponsoring uh, especially for local marshals at the time. Um so I had five last year, of course I didn't get in. So I waited in this year as soon as they had dropped the registration, and as soon as I did that, I went ahead and registered and I was able to get in. I was able to attend the class here, um, and then now look here we are. So yeah, glad to be here.

SPEAKER_14: 49:21

Hi, I'm Kelly Messier. I am from Brookline, New Hampshire, and I'm part of New England region where I'm the flag chief. We have four tracks up there, and this weekend in Vegas, I am one of the sector chiefs. So I'm walking around about a quarter of the track back and forth every day. We're rotating around and getting to see a whole lot of people and finding new obstacles. A lot of people have been asking me this weekend about how I manage to be a sector chief, and I think everyone's path is a little bit different. Um, but for the crowd at home, we'll go through. I started off, um, I think like a lot of people do, where someone says, Hey, why don't you come out to the track? Um, and then you know, you go out for a while and they're like, Hey, why don't you come try out this Formula E thing? We need to be pull down in Brooklyn. So I flagged there and did that for a while. Did a little bit of WAC, did a little bit of IMSA. Um, most people get to outfit a little faster than I did. I think I had already CPM'd at, you know, like five pro races before I got to my first race, which was actually here in Vegas. Um, the first year we had Vegas. I think that one of the most important things you do need is a couple of shoes. We keep saying that, but I went 11 and a half miles last night. So that was an important thing. Um, and we go through and we're keeping an eye on all of you guys, and that way when things like last year when Coloquinto hit your station, you know, front and center, Inspector Chief can come make sure if I'm still okay.

SPEAKER_28: 50:46

So my name is Kevin. I'm hometown. I was born and raised in Texas. Uh, I would say my home track is a combination of both uh Creston and Eagles Canyon. I live in Dallas, and my Vegas assignment is uh I am TSP 20. Uh and the probably the funniest experience I ever had doing marshalling was my first F1 event. I was assigned for Pit Entry 19.3. And when all the VIPs are walking out on track, uh I have to remain on station, look stern, look assertive. And someone to my right, who I was not looking at, had a very, very good, strong floral scent. And I was taken back by it, and I had to turn to my right and see who it was, and no less than five feet, it was Gordon Ramsay. And I was very I was like, he would smell pretty good. So I turned to my right and I didn't say anything to him. I just took an extra whiff. But uh no, he smelled pretty good. I want to ask what cologne he had, but I don't want to be a creep. So, Gordon Ramsay, if you ever listen to this, give me that sentence, boy.

SPEAKER_32: 51:53

Good morning. My name is Mark Todd. Hometown is Greenbrier, Arkansas. I would say my home track is uh Coda. My Vegas assignment is paddock lift for the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Creek. The question I'm gonna hit today is how did you get started in marshalling? Which is kind of a funny story. I just retired from the Army and I had a buddy that was stationed in Fort Bliss, uh Texas, and the halfway point was pretty much Austin or Circuit of the Americas. And I was looking one day on the uh website and I happened to find this tab that said volunteer. And I went down that rabbit hole back in September of 2018 and I haven't made my way out yet. And this is uh and this is uh November of 2025, but it's been a wonderful experience. It it has taken me across the pond to Berlin to London, uh, you know, New York Formula E and Homestead Formula E. And I hope to uh work some other assignments outside of the US.

SPEAKER_00: 52:53

Okay, my name is Kevin Holcomb. I am a uh Marshal from England, and my home track is Brands Hatch. I also do Silverstone and most of the or all three of the Goodwood events. Um and I've got into the motor racing in the US through a friend, and now I come to Vegas, Miami, and Dakota. Um, I got started in motor racing about 24 years ago, where I was just a spectator marshal at one of the Goodwood events, um, and I just got the bug from that day on. I have never looked back since, and my wife now doesn't see me at all. And we've been married for 42 years, but we've only been together for 10 because I'm never in. Um, people probably know me best for my crazy traffic cone outfits that I wear at most of the events, um, and we get ourselves into all sorts of trouble running around um and entertaining everybody, which is what it's all about. Um, and I've always got something that keeps everybody amused. So that's me, and I just love motorsport, and I wish everyone would come and join the family.

SPEAKER_10: 53:59

Hi, my name is Rachel Miller. My hometown is Arlington Heights, and Road America is my home track. My Vegas assignment, I'm one of the leads in the support paddock for F1 Academy, and I will have grid spot 20 for the start of F1 race. And how I got started, uh, I'm a fan, and my son, um, we were at a Moto America race, and he said, How do I get to be that person on the corner? So he researched it, figured it out, started when he was 18, went away to college, came back the next summer and said, Hey mom, you should do this with me. So, any excuse to spend time with my son, and um I'm hooked now.

SPEAKER_26: 54:42

My name is Ricardo Souza. Uh, my hometown actually is Piracicaba, Sao Paulo. But right now I live in uh near Saint P, which that's my home track. And basically, uh my assignment in Vegas, I'm an intervention marshal. And uh how I did get started. Well, uh I grew up in Brazil, of course, and every single kid in Brazil, either they like soccer or they like race. So my case, of course, uh, on my before I get 10 years old, I have my little track at home, and uh I play with uh Emerson with the public of Sucker, or of course Nicky Lauda for Rabbit, so that's basically what I got. And uh my coolest thing being, of course, is watching Senna on my ears, my great ears of Sena, which is my still the home here in Brazil, and uh besides that, the funniest experience I have, of course, was here in Vegas three years ago. I have to run to the track and pick up pieces of a Losos car on the first turn. So that's a great place to be. So if you have an experience, come to Vegas, please.

SPEAKER_09: 55:53

Hi, I'm Marcia, last name Eulis. Uh sounds a little weird, I'm sure. Looks even weirder when you try and look at it written out. I'm from uh Newark, California, San Francisco region of the Sports Car Club of America. Uh I'm working Vegas this year as a starter, and I'm very excited about that. I've been a marshal for the past couple of years. And let's see, how did I get started in marshalling? Hmm. Birth. I've been around racing all my life. My parents were involved, and so it's just kind of part of my normal bloodstream. I wouldn't know what to do without it.

SPEAKER_17: 56:33

So that was our group of marshals we we talked to on the street. Um, as Jamie mentioned, it was done all none of this was done on shift. We're we were all compliant. None of this was done at the track, it was all done at the lugs or either in the ballroom or on the bus, even in a couple situations. Um, yeah, it was it was so fun. And I just I was cracking up listening to some of them too. Just yeah, uh, yeah, they did not disappoint at all. And uh I would love to do more of these. Uh I'm sure Jamie will be thrilled to edit those.

SPEAKER_02: 57:05

Well, the production gets a little hairy, but um especially when the audio is so out of control, but you know, it's no big deal. I mean, what what's important I think really shines through and that these uh racer, these marshals, whether they be working their 52nd Grand Prix, as we heard, or their first. You know, we had one of each of those. You know, you've got a little bit of everything, but uh like you said at the top of the show, Jess, uh uh it's like a family. You heard that word several times throughout the episode. But people feel like motorsports marshalling is part of a family thing, and we just have this huge extended family, which is hilarious because we are always telling ourselves, boy, it's a small world. But you know, a lot of these marshals you're gonna see again and again and again. You know, uh uh folks like Aaron, who we heard early in the episode with her dad. You know, I've seen Aaron now at two or three of these, and it's like, oh hey, you know, you eventually you start to recognize faces, and you know, now you'll get to know a little bit more of the stories. And of course the marshals that work together know more of the stories than we do, but you know, that's that's how it all works, and that's the the magic of the motorsports uh networking system, you know, is that you get to work with and meet these amazing people from all over the world, all over the country, with all levels of experience and with all kinds of things in their background, and you know, it's just it's a fascinating business for those who enjoy people watching. And boy, believe me, you can count me in in that uh group bar.

SPEAKER_17: 58:46

Yeah, definitely. No, it was cool. And I think that was one of the things that I missed last year, is because I I was not in that hotel. And you know, we're you're kind of isolated, and so to be back in that room with hundreds of people, like you know, many of which I know, some I don't, that I should meet, you know. I always try to seek out who have I've seen these people a million times, I've never met them. You know, let's let's make let's change that, you know. And so it's it's cool.

SPEAKER_02: 59:14

I indie you that ability to just walk up to yourself and introduce yourself to someone because I that's like my kryptonite.

SPEAKER_17: 59:24

Oh that's okay, yeah. No, nothing wrong with that, but no, it was fun. It was really fun to get to do that. One of the things that was interesting. Um, so I had this was my second time as a starter for F1. The the lot the previous time was at USGP last year, and I don't think I ever made it to the Marshall area because we were parking somewhere else, as you may recall. So I never was wearing that tabard in public and until this this past event at in La Vegas. And I can't tell you how many people came up and were like, Oh, how do you get to be a starter? And I'm sure you get this all the time. I certainly saw you get. Asked it a bunch of times too. Um, maybe we'd spend a minute and talk about that just for all the other people that would love to know that didn't didn't see us or didn't ask about it. But uh, do you want to kind of talk about what do you look for when you're recruiting?

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:15

Sure. So, you know, I a lot of people that have listened to a lot of episodes of this podcast or or know us, you know, that's sort of my my gig is the starting job. And as I've said on the show many times, it's the smallest team on the F1 staffing side. Um, I've got four people. Four. And so I've got a pretty long waiting list. So that's the first thing you have to understand. If you're if you want to be a starter on the F1 uh roster, it's gonna take some time. And you know, there's there's people who have been asking long before you. So I will tell you that I was a national starter in the SECA world for several years before I got to be on the start team. You know what I mean? It takes time. There's so the first piece of advice I will give you is if you want to be on the teams, you have to be patient. Second of all, you have to be a SCCA starter. Obviously, to be on any F1 team, you have to be licensed. And in the SCCA world, that means you have to have a divisional license or better. Honestly, with the people I have in the waiting list line, if you're not a national, the first thing I would tell you is work toward your national license. And then, you know, getting on with a getting on the F1 team with a divisional license would be pretty challenging. Now, there are exceptions to that rule, um, but it would be pretty challenging, um, given the way I staff it. Um, then what I would tell you is to be a starter anywhere, not just the F1 program, but to be a starter anywhere. We get there's this program that if you'll think back to what uh we talked about with the lesson with the episode with Sydney uh Davis Yagle. She has been running a program with the SCCA where when you go to the SCCA webpage, you can fill out a form indicating your interests, and then she routes that form to the appropriate people. And a bunch of times I get the email list, you know, for for people who indicate that they're in they're interested in learning starting, but they've never done anything. I get it. Trust me, I get it. It's the cool position you see on television a lot. We're waving the checker and the green flags, and the NASCAR guys are always on there because those guys are always crashing into each other. Um, they're the only ones that have to wear helmets too. So anyway, just beat and no, you're not gonna crack that one. There's there's no way you're gonna get into the NASCAR starting world. But um I I love I would have checked that box if I was filling out that form. That's what I would have that's what I've kind of always gravitated to to wanting to do. But before you can be a starter, what I what my email to those folks that indicate that is, is to before you can be a starter, you've got to be a good solid FNC Marshall first, with a pretty good, probably minimum year of experience. When you get to the point where you're at like Brad's level, when we were talking about that at the beginning of the show, Brad's been in a year, but he is a solid marshal and really, really good. At that point, when he understands how a race weekend works, what the flags mean, how different situations can evolve, and and those kinds of things. Then you can start thinking about taking on additional specialties, be they pit grid, be they tech, be they um timing and scoring, start, whatever. The foundation is being a good FNC, good, solid FNC Marshal. You've got to know the flags, know the rules, know how and when, gotta make solid calls, you've got to understand what's going on on the whole track, not just your sector. You know, there's a lot of people I've talked to over the years who did not want to be starters, um, they had no interest in it. They wanted to go and they'll flag their sector, and they're perfectly comfortable with that, and that's fine. I respect that because being a starter is a FNC Marshall with some extra responsibilities, a lot of extra responsibilities. And you know, you've got to understand what those are first, then you can start figuring out how it is applied to the extra jobs of being a starter. So that's kind of longer than I intended to go, but that's really what you're looking to do. Start at the SECA level, get solid, get licensed, work your way up, make some connections, introduce yourself. I'm always happy to talk to new starters. Make sure your area bosses know who you are. Um, they're called the DAs of start for your division. The SCCA. You know, make sure that you're doing as many events at as many tracks as you can. Uh, working start as much as you can, obviously, or whatever specialty you want to move up in the world. If you're interested in pit and grid, go listen to our Nadja and Tony episode. If you're interested in scrutineering, listen to the Adam Gavala episode just before this one. They'll tell you how to get started in each of those episodes. Those are questions we specifically ask them is how do you get started? So those answers are there. You know, you just gotta kind of make friends, uh, show up, do the work at the lower levels, and then by all means, you can certainly join the ranks. Um, like I said, with four people, it may take a while, but uh I I I will do my best to get you there. How how about that? You know, that's really all I can give you beyond that. But um, you know, my my team is pretty competitive, um, just because it's so small. And honestly, there are pro starters that want to do this job that you know I'm I'm prioritizing SCCA people over pros. Um, my feeling, my personal feeling, and some may not like this, but pros get a lot of really great opportunities because of who they are and where they are and what their series is doing. I want to give the F1 piece at least to the SCCA world that won't get those pro opportunities, and that's what I'm trying to do with the S the F1 starting program. At least as long as I'm the chief.

SPEAKER_17: 1:07:28

Yeah, no, I think that makes sense, especially because, and we've talked about this before, you know, with the SCCA or any the club level, you are learning it to do without all the all the frills. You're you're learning it like every, you know, how to if you have to leap into action and use a fire extinguisher, you know, you you will do that in SECA. That might not be a thing you do at F1, but ultimately if all the technology went down, can you finish this job? And so you have to have that background of doing everything versus F1 where you don't get to do as much. So I think that's a good and it's and it is cool. And it's cool that you you do get you prioritize these people that are not gonna maybe get their moment like the pro people do. And there's nothing against the pro people, you know, no, no, a lot of them have very cool excellent starters, but this is a really cool way, you know, like you know, to to make sure other people, you know, yes, you you can make this happen too if you're willing to work hard. I think the biggest thing that we've talked about between kind of what you just said and what Tony, Nadja, Adam have said, you know, it's these are priority areas. They're not we're not better than anyone else, right? Every every specialty is important equally.

SPEAKER_02: 1:08:41

It's a piece of the piece of the machine.

SPEAKER_17: 1:08:43

It is, but it but it's the location and the and the access you have. Um it is it's different, it's a different world. You have to be able to be trusted because you are in front of you know drivers and celebrities and cameras, and you could very easily screw up everything. You know, you have you could so easily if you wanted to wreak havoc, you could. And so you have to be trusted. And so that's one of those things I think is a big deal is that if you're known for being, and I'm not speaking for any of those other chiefs or you or anyone, but if you're known to be someone that's really into capturing content, which we hear about, good luck to you. It's never gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02: 1:09:24

Yeah, it's gonna happen a lot slower than you think.

SPEAKER_17: 1:09:28

It's it they look at that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02: 1:09:30

I I did tell a number of the people that walked up to me at Vegas wanting to know one of the things that's really important is and and it sounds crass, but it's really the case, is we check references. I check references. Yeah, they all do. I if I don't know you, I have to know someone that does know you, and I have to ask them what they honestly think of you. And you know, it's okay to be not perfect, nobody's perfect, but I can't have you, I can't have someone who's known to be a problem on the start stand just because they want the opportunity, you know. They're they're references are important, your your body of work, as they like to say in the sports world, is a big thing, and you know, I expect my starters to not be Boy Scouts, but because that darn sure wouldn't apply to you, but no, I um I just I I expect my starters to to embody a very professional demeanor. And we're not professionals, but we are that day, I guess is probably the best way to say it. We treat it as if it was our real absolutely without without us without a shred of doubt, that is exactly true.

SPEAKER_17: 1:10:55

And it's you know, because a lot of people that they're volunteers, you know, but you do have to treat it as if it was a real job because they're relying on you. Right. And if you are the type of person that flakes, you're gonna be deemed unreliable and you're not gonna get these things.

SPEAKER_02: 1:11:09

And if my team screws up, it's my name at the top of the sheet. And so I need to make sure that the people on my team aren't gonna put me in that kind of position, you know. There's a little bit of a selfish thing in there too, but it it comes from the team aspect of it, is we're all working together, and you can't have one part of the team bring the whole team down. So that's why character, that's why the references, that's why all of that, the experiences, the knowledge, how do you react in a stressful situation, what you know, those kinds of things are huge. And we will talk much more about this later. I don't didn't want to turn this into a how do you be a starter episode, but you know, that that's a a legitimate question, and people probably have it. And we will talk more about it, specifically start in the future. But you know, we've covered a lot of the stuff, we'll keep covering it again. And you know, that's that's something that we we want people to advance up into the world. This is a beautiful world where people will get to do almost anything they want to do, and you get there by putting in the work at the lower levels and then letting people notice you, and then the rest is networking and you know, moving yourself up, either you know, by somebody asking you to or just by saying, Hey, can I check this out? And you'd be surprised that the answer is almost always yes.

SPEAKER_17: 1:12:42

Yeah, absolutely. No, it's that's that's really looked upon by a lot of the other chiefs is like, how much are you doing at the club level, SECA, whatever? And we've talked, I've stand stood on my stoke box on this show multiple times saying, please go help those local clubs. They need marshals, they need people. And the way I kind of see it is it's your way of giving back to the place that to the people that got you to where you are, right? Now you go mentor the next group so we can keep this going because we we have to keep that going. But one thing that's really interesting that we don't really, it's not really a thing here, which is kind of funny. Um, a lot of other countries, I know in Australia for sure, and I think maybe UK, I don't quote me. They're required, they have like a logbook, and you you list all of your every event you've worked in. I because I know that they do it.

SPEAKER_02: 1:13:35

And your captain has to sign it.

SPEAKER_17: 1:13:36

And I think it's a great idea. I think that should be a thing here, even I I prefer if it was digital personally.

SPEAKER_02: 1:13:43

I always and I always recommend like I recommended to Sam and uh Brad. Um, you know, when I met Brad mostly a year ago, I was like, you need to create a spreadsheet that tracks which events you work, what corners you worked, what duties you had, who you worked with, and maybe even what you learned. Yeah. And it will make filling out your F1 and other big event applications a lot easier. But at the same time, it's a great record for you to have because you're gonna see people and you're gonna go, I worked with that guy a couple of years ago, but I don't remember his name. But it was at such and such an event. You can look in your spreadsheet, and there it is.

SPEAKER_17: 1:14:26

Yeah, you know, just any of that just to have a running trick because I know that for me, like when I've applied for license upgrades or the steward program, like I you have to give them all that. And for me, I'm never gonna remember all this. Exactly. I mean, you and I work at Coda, we work like hundreds of days a year, whatever. I don't know how many dozens, you know, you you lose track, and so I I try to at least keep the the big ones on there so that it's or any of the you know racing stuff. But yeah, so that's something encourage you guys if you're new to this, keep a running list for your motorsport resume, whatever you want to call it, because like Jamie was saying, you know, they're gonna ask you this on a lot of these applications. You can copy paste.

SPEAKER_02: 1:15:09

Absolutely, and that's the that's the best benefit of it, is is when it says list your 2024 experience, copy list.

SPEAKER_17: 1:15:18

Exactly. But the just to have that, because that is the type of thing people will look for. And they should, you know. I I feel like if I was a chief, I would want to give it to the people that are like involved more than just the people that only want to do one thing a year. Right.

SPEAKER_02: 1:15:33

And they then they do three, four truck days a year, you know.

SPEAKER_17: 1:15:36

I mean uh the people that are like they live and breathe it, you know, they they're gonna want they want it the most. They should, you know, as long as they're you know, putting the effort in and can be trusted, absolutely those people should get the get the opportunity.

SPEAKER_02: 1:15:50

Well, we have babbled a lot, but we have one more surprise for you before 2025 is over. Jess, you want to tell them?

SPEAKER_17: 1:15:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_02: 1:16:04

Before the new year, and I promise that's from the producer.

SPEAKER_17: 1:16:06

That's on him to get that out. Um, our our season finale will be with uh George Silberman, who is the um president of Akis. Um, he it it the the news is out. He is he is retiring and he will be stepping down. So we we can reveal that now. So we're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02: 1:16:24

And it wasn't public when we recorded it. So but uh you'll have to remember that. But um yeah, uh, and that's the just in case to for Vegas Marshals, you will remember uh very dapper gentleman being introduced to all of the marshals at one of the meetings. I believe it was Friday night, maybe it was Saturday, but um he was introduced to all of them. That's the George that will be on the podcast next time.

SPEAKER_17: 1:16:53

Yeah, and and uh he we were very privileged to get to sit down with him, and and he's always so cool. And so, yes, he is retiring, but he is still he's still there, he's still the president of Atis as we speak and at the time of the uh episode release. But um uh he will be retiring uh after a storied career and so well deserved. But um, and then uh Kevin Miller has taken over, is the president elect of Atkis. So um we'll probably be seeing him more, which is very exciting. And I I got to meet him. George introduced me to him in Vegas, which was very cool. So hope to get to chat with him at some point, maybe on the show.

SPEAKER_02: 1:17:29

That's great.

SPEAKER_17: 1:17:30

One of these days.

SPEAKER_02: 1:17:31

So you're our social director, you'll have to make that up.

SPEAKER_17: 1:17:34

Okay, I'll see what I can do. Yes. Uh anyway, so um, yeah, so we since yeah, as we said, we are the episode was already recorded, so we're kind of giving you the preview that yes, that'll be our finale for the year. And um, yeah, we we weren't able to really reveal that at the time, but yeah, so so George, we appreciate you being on.

SPEAKER_02: 1:17:53

And thank you. And one of the cool things you can do to kind of prep yourself for it is on X to uh go and look up Acus Mayer, A C C U S Mayor, M-A-Y-O-R, and um check out George's feed, and you will see some surprises and maybe a bunch of familiar faces because he goes around taking photos of Marshalls at almost all of these events, and uh you've probably stood in front of his phone more than once if you've done a few F1s in the last five years. So yes, yeah, he posts it's always a blast to scroll through his feed because it's amazing, it's it reaches a lot of people.

SPEAKER_17: 1:18:38

It does. We we've been on his feed. We actually got a picture with him this this time, which was very cool. So I do wonder if uh he will change his his ex handle, ex formerly Twitter. That is, I wonder if he will. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02: 1:18:54

We'll have to we'll have to we'll have to find out.

SPEAKER_17: 1:18:56

But anyway, we're we're thrilled to get to have that be the the season finale.

SPEAKER_02: 1:19:00

That'll be out before the new year, I promise.

SPEAKER_17: 1:19:04

All right. Did we forget anything?

SPEAKER_02: 1:19:07

I think that's that's gonna wrap up this episode of Track Side the Podcast, Jess. It's always a blast talking with you, and uh it was really a blast getting to to know some of the marshals that we would have never met in Vegas otherwise. Uh I really enjoyed this episode, no matter how difficult it was and challenging to put together.

SPEAKER_17: 1:19:27

But it was awesome. So thank you to all the Vegas Marshalls that took a few minutes to chat with us. And uh if everyone and everyone else keep an eye out for us at the next one, we'll we'll try to get we want to get everybody one of these one of these days. But yeah, it was it was very cool. So yeah, uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 1:19:45

Well, that's gonna wrap this episode up, and we will catch you next time on Trek Side, the podcast for Marshalls. Take care, y'all.

SPEAKER_34: 1:19:53

You're gonna be able to edit this, right? Because I just totally totally brain farted.