Location of each "pitstop" generally takes place in a centralized location where a driver in that area, hosts the event and the staff of the FFRL puts it all together.  The "Pitstops" done in each year are noted as the "years" just above this text.  Browsing through them will give you an idea of the FFRL and how this is just more than racing, it's the community.  In 2010, we have scheduled our next Pitstop back in Cleveland, Oh on August 7th and 8th.

The discussion was broken down into two parts.  The first focused on driving skills and they how's and why's.  After a few hours, we broke apart for a little mingling while burgers, beer brats, and dogs were being made accented with salads, chips, and loads of drinks.  When things were cleaned up a little, we continued the discussion for next years setup.

The benefit of the Pitstop is for drivers to finally meet off the track and have a little fun.  Next year, the FFRL Pitstop is arranged to take place at the home of Setser in Ft.Wayne, Indiana between the months of August and September.  Hope to see you all again next year!

Below, you will find the notes that were presented at the Pistop if you were not able to attend.  The selection in "RED" are just a brief summary of that part of the discussion.  Photos were also taken by Doc and provided here. 

FFRL 2nd Annual Pitstop

August 28, 2004

FFRL 2^nd Annual Pitstop

I.  Welcome to 2^nd annual FFRL Pitstop

      A. Comments from last year’s event

      B. Location for next year

(Location for next year has been set at Setser’s home in Ft. Wayne, IN.  Locations are based on a central location where the largest amount of drivers reside.  Currently, that area is from Indiana to Ohio.  Drivers are aware that Connecticut has three drivers in the roster and if that area grows, it is quite possible to have the pitstop out there.)

II. Do not give out your CD Key

(Drivers were made aware to never give out their CD Key to anyone due to scams.)

III. Website

      A.     Whole new design and layout

      B.     1024 x 768 view settings

      C.     expanded download section

(Includes paint shop templates and base layers, tires, tracks, utilities, etc.. to be planned for Season 4 to allow drivers to customize the game and make it more personable.)

      D.     player profiles

            a.       located on top under logo

            b.      previous accomplishments

            c.       bio’s

            d.      track histories

      E.      Individualized profile icons for forums

      F.      Possible PHP, PostNuke layout

      G.     Possible frames

IV. Email service

(the FFRL currently has an email service.  If interested, drivers can use this service to create their own email accounts.  Such accounts will be johndoe@ffrl.org.  If drivers wish to use this service, it is requested that they check their email ever so often so not to blog down the server.)

V. Treasury

      A.     When we started this league…..

      B.     All transactions are noted on the website

      C.     Balance this season $13.78

      D.     Thus far this season, only one person has made a donation, Roller.

      E.      Purchases remaining for this season

            a    Site hosting

            b.      Domain name

            c.       Trophies

            d.      Mailings

      F.      Possibility of have membership for next year of $25 to cover expenses

(This is NOT going to happen.  Was just mentioned to show one way to remove the overhead expenses of the league.  Savina and I have agreed in the beginning to handle all costs maintaining the league.  At that time though, there were only a few members and the overhead costs were limited.  As the league grows, and things expand, expenses had also expanded.  We will NEVER charge for membership.  This is “friends and family” and none are strangers.  Donations are always welcomed though.)

      G.     A 24/7 server, minimum cost is $45/month.  $35 per person based on a 15 membership roster.

            a.       Server can offer voice chat

            b.      Server can offer “track pass” features

(All drivers present at the Pitstop loved the idea of having a “24/7 server” and were aware of the expenses it takes to have one.  It was decided that if the league grows to the point where we can no longer host the amount of people on our own personal server, than the league will split the cost of renting one for an entire year)

VI. Improvements on driving

      A.     Reasons why 1-2 car lengths

(1-2 car lengths is anywhere from .4 - .6 seconds behind the car in front of you.  To see where you are at, hit your F2 while you are under pace, and then hit the SPACEBAR to switch to “real time” to get accurate readings)

      B.     Explain Steering assistance

      C.     Explain tire wear

            a.       Being overaggressive wears tires

            b.      Driving outside “shaded” area is not in the groove – more friction.

            c.       Turn off traction control

      D.     Over the hood/cockpit view

      E.      Who has the line?

      F.      Penalties

            a.       Under caution – passing under yellow

            b.      Unsafe pit exit

            c.       Unsafe pit entrance

            d.      Reckless driving

            e.       Passing under yellow on restart/starts

      G.     Blocking lead lap cars.

(The above mentioned went into discussion on how to improve your driving technique and how’s and why’s things happen during the race.)

VII. Aggressive vs. Aggressive and careless

(Generally explained the difference between racing in the corners and knocking someone out.  Aggressive is fine as long as you are not careless in doing so.  We understand accidents do happen but if it’s just plain carelessness (ex: racing into the turns too fast and slamming into the driver in front of you) you could be asked to pit under the 2^nd caution lap, green flag drive through, or even asked to park your car.)

VIII. Season 4

      A.     No AI’s.

      B.     Car files

            a.       low-rez and high-rez will be available

(Will be made available for 4^th season to help those with smaller graphic cards)

            b.      amount of cars per division

                  i.      Nextel – 3 car files

                  ii.      GNS – 3 car files

                  iii.      CTS – 2 car files

                  iv.      Aero88 – 2 car files

            c.       number assigned to driver will affect all divisions – only 1 number per driver for entire season (seniority take place)

(This was put in place due to the confusion in files and lineups.  If driver A has #20 in GNS and driver B has #20 in Nextel, but driver A has been in the FFRL longer, he will have seniority over the number forcing driver B to choose another.  Now if Driver B wants a number that he used previously, even with ai teammates but no longer has it used and has seniority over driver C, driver C will be forced to pick another.)

            d.      car painting

                  i.      6-8 hours minimum per car file

                  ii.      painting cars

                        1.      no “make believe sponsors”

                        2.      application will be made for car requests

                        3.      only 1 car per division per person will be done unless I decide to swap colors to give another car.  If I have time, can do more.  Don’t wait till last minute.

(Simply, to avoid problems, the FFRL has agreed to paint 1 car per person, per division so they have a starting point in Season 4.)

                  iii.      sites of car files

(A list of sites with car files will be provided if you wish to choose another car, find one you like or whatever)

                  iv.      document to learn how to do on your own

            e.       all files will be done in .exe format for self installation

      C.     Added rules

            a.       No lead off – drop of green = acceleration.  Drivers are to remain under pace speed until given signal “go”

            b.      Pit Box entry – drivers are to enter their pit at the minimum of 1 space prior to their box.  Driving through the boxes to their spot is not acceptable.

(This also means exiting your pit box.  You can leave your pitbox 1 spot after IF it is safe.)

            c.       Gentlemens Rule – always in affect

                  i.      Explain rule

                  ii.      What happens if accident appear in front of you.. do you wait?

                  iii.      Sometimes, there can be an exception

                        1.      If three drivers running close are approaching the line and just before the line, the caution comes out, it can be overlooked since the drivers are that close and running at top speeds.

                                    iv.      Penalty for infraction = pit (1^st lap is okay)

                                    v.      Safe driving under yellow – if a driver rams another car while the yellow is out, the admin’s already try to force that driver to pit on the 2^nd lap to force back of line restart.  Should their also be a 5 point penalty?

(This was voted NO.  There will be no penalty applied simply because the admin’s, if actions are careless, have the right to force a pit.)

            d.      Cautions – all drivers involved, force pit?

(This was voted NO.)

            e.       2 laps down with a 10 lap restart, pit on 2^nd lap to allow lead cars a chance to fight it out

(This was voted YES.)

      D.     Divisions

            a.       Nextel – Sunday Nights

(In the forums, we discussed days.  NONE are set in stone as of yet and further discussion will be made of it as the season winds down.  This is applied to all divisions except the Ironman series.)

                  i.      Setup

                        1.      40-45% races

                        2.      Fixed “expert” setup (fast used if expert n/a)

                        3.      Pit stop 2x

                        4.      Must be harder than GNS

                                    a.       Real Weather – if used, a fixed setup cannot be used.  The idea of real weather is so the driver can set the car to handle the conditions

                                    b.      Realistic Damage – Touchier than Moderate.  Possibility of more dnf’s

                                    c.       Hardcore (view) – forces the driver to race in cockpit view.  Cannot be changed

                                    d.      Hardcore (no aids) – driver can change their view but stability, traction, steering assistance, and anti-lock brakes are turned off.

                                    e.       Harcore (both) – No aids and cockpit view forced.

                                    f.        True simulation – No aids, Forced Cockpit, and Real weather.

(There was mixed reviews on this.  Technically, the Nextel league should be harder than the GNS and not just the driver experience setting the difference.  Driving skill should be used to separate it.  Over the remainder of the season, after the race, the server will be reset to put in place the “ideas” listed above so drivers can sample them.  So instead of a demo period, practice will be set for 20 minutes.  After practice, the server will shut down.)

                  ii.      Schedule

                        1.      follows Nascar Nextel Schedule

            b.      GNS – Friday Nights

                  i.      Setup

                        1.      30 – 35% races

                        2.      Fixed “fast” setup

                        3.      Pit stop 2x

(Changed from 1x so the drivers in this league can get used to how to take care of their tires and learn pit stragedy.)

                  ii.      Schedule

                        1.      follows Nascar Nextel Schedule

(Instead of following the gns schedule, they will be following the Nextel schedule to they have the opportunity to race at Tally, the Brickyard, and Watkins Glen.)

            c.       CTS/Aero 88 – Tuesday Nights

                  i.      Aero 88

                        1.      Setup

                                    a.       30 – 35% races

                                    b.      Fixed “fast” setup

                                    c.       Pitstop 2x

                        2.      Schedule

                                    a.       Follows GNS Schedule

                                    b.      Starts first half of season

                  ii.      CTS

                        1.      Setup

                                    a.       30-35% races

                                    b.      Fixed “expert” setup

                                    c.       Pitstop 2x

                        2.      Schedule

                                    a.       Follows CTS Schedule

                                    b.      Last second half of season

            d.      Ironman – Saturdays

                  i.      Setup

                        1.      1 race every 3^rd or 4^th week

                        2.      100% races

                        3.      Fixed “expert” setup

                        4.      NO damage

                        5.      30-40 car field (with ai’s)

                        6.      $20 entry fee

                        7.      Looking for prize sponsor

                        8.      Pitstop 2x

                        9.      Tracks consists speedways and possible supers.  NO road or shorts.

                        10.  Nascar Cup Series Mod used

(Almost all drivers loved the idea of having something to race for in a special series.  The FFRL is going to attempt to find sponsors to offer prizes to the winners of such event.  If they cannot find “prize donators”, those they find with “cash donations” will be used to supply prizes such as a MOMO wheel, etc…  It was also noted that NO ai’s will win.  If the first real driver finishes in 22^nd position, they will be treated as finishing in 1^st.)

      E.      Sponsorship Races

            a.       Sponsorship races are money races.  If a driver would like to sponsor a race to give out cash/item awards, arrangements can be made.  Sponsor can choose the type of track (would not recommend Daytona or Tally), and setup they wish to use.  Advertisement for that sponsor will appear on website for a maximum of 2 months prior to the race.  Sponsor chooses if they wish to set a entry fee to race.  If no entry fee, minimum of sponsor ship is $100.  With entry fee, $50.  FFRL takes 15% of initial value to support the league.  Remaining monies to be distributed to the sponsors request.

(This was a possibility of incase the ironman series doesn’t kick off.)

      F.      Roster (possible)

            a.       Will select drivers to even the fields.  Server only holds maybe 16.

                  i.      Nextel

                        1.      Duck, Billy, Dennis, Al Jr., Setser, Rock, Ruger, NY (?), Whump (?), Doc (?), Ravenloff

                  ii.      GNS

                        1.      DogBreath, Tyster, Bruce, Stroker, CK Fromm, Roller, Pegleg, + new drivers joining

                  iii.      CTS/Aero 88/Ironman

                        1.      Open to anyone

      G.     Track Creation

            a.       FFRL created tracks

                  i.      Short Track

                  ii.      Road Course

                  iii.      Speedway

(In the off season, the FFRL will be attempting to create tracks to use as fillers for tracks that are not in the game under the real nascar schedule.)

      H.     Haulers and Signs

            a.       Haulers – all drivers attending “pitstop” will have their own Hauler created to be displayed at various tracks.

            b.      Signs – Signs will be changed throughout series of tracks to represent the FFRL League and it’s drivers.

                  i.      Home state tracks will be represented by a driver (example: Rock lives in California)

                  ii.      If numerous drivers live in same state, there could be possibly various signs or a driver can pick another “home track”

                  iii.      If a driver does not have a home state track, a surrounding track will be done.

                  iv.      Graphics must be supplied to create

      I.        Offseason events

            a.       What to do?

(Al Jr. will be hosting a Jr. League for kids (probably under teenage of years) so they can enjoy the racing community and get the experience for possible future enrollment.  Also, we will be setting up “fun” races just to keep everyone in contact.  If anyone has an idea on a race, just mention it and we will roll with it.)

            b.      Practice races for season 4 will start 3 weeks in advance with a shorter race length

(At the start of the season, 3 weeks prior practice will start.  For the first 2 weeks, the race length will be shorter.  The third week will be of full race length.  After that, Season 4 of the FFRL will begin.)