The NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill is one of the most exciting motorsports events of the year and you can be a part of the action by volunteering as a pit-marshal.  This page will give you some good information and prepare you for the great adventure!

Details: 25-hr Enduro at Thunderhill on December 3 - 4, 2005.

12/3/05    9am: Pit-marshal meeting in the cafeteria (1st floor of the tower)
12/3/05    11am: Race Begins
12/4/05    12pm: Race ends

The parts between 11am and 12pm are the fun bits.

What do pit-marshals do?

Pit-marshals are responsible for ensuring the safety of the drivers, crew and other participants.  In the course of duty a pit-marshal is an observer and does not interfere except to prevent or rectify a dangerous situation.  Pit-marshals are present in the hot pits during the entire event.  Pit-marshals are responsible for observing and enforcing all safety rules contained in the CCR (http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/ccr.pdf) and the Endurance Racing Rules (http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/enduro.pdf).  Pit-marshals do not assist any team in their duties.  Pit-marshals cannot give a competitive advantage to a team by being polite.  e.g. do not loan a flashlight; do not carry a jug of fuel, do not hold a door open, etc.  Any interference from a pit-marshal can be construed as favoritism.  Pit-marshals DO interfere when a potential dangerous situation is about to occur.  e.g. If a team has the hood open and is working on the engine and refueling is about to occur, the pit-marshal will prevent the refueling and explain WHY the interference is being made.

Pit-marshals are in near-constant communication with Control via radio.  Pit-marshals communicate to control every pit-stop; report any violations and report any unsafe or questionable behavior by any person.  At times the Race Director, Event Director or Control will ask the pit-marshal to be a messenger to deliver messages to specific teams.  At times a team will ask pit-marshals to contact control on their behalf, usually to report an on-track incident such as being passed under a yellow.

Pit-marshals do not hand out penalties for violations.  The Race Director has the ultimate decision on whether a penalty is assessed and what that penalty will be. 

What do I need to be a pit-marshal?

Good shoes!
Hat (baseball style works well with earphones)
Warm clothes, gloves (at night).  Dress in layers, fleece works great under a coat.
Foul-weather gear.  Do not wear a black raincoat.  It's December in Willows.  Count on it raining hard.

Do I have to stand up for 25 hours straight?

Nope.  We work in shifts.  The more ppl we have, the more sleep we all get to enjoy.

Shifts are established based on how many ppl actually make it to the 9am meeting.  3-hrs on/3-hrs off tends to work best.

Will I have a good time?

Absolutely.  The 25-hr is the culmination of a lot of hard work for these teams and they are rightly proud of their accomplishments.  It's occasionally a bit hectic and occasionally a bit boring.  In the end it's a great time.  If you're a gearhead, you don't want to miss this.  Imagine having a twin-turbo Porsche go screaming by at well over 100mph about 15 feet away.  Woah what a rush!
 
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