Our 2022 MSR Tech Sessions gathering was a whirlwind three-day virtual gathering of some of the top minds in the motorsports industry, all assembled with the intent of helping you make your club the best organization it can be. 

From track safety to radio operations to growing your class participation, our February Tech Session event included tons of info you need to help your club step up to the next level. It’s also a lot of info to take in, with so much info spread across hours of instruction. That’s why we wanted to take these three days of events and give you a quick resource for the top-level takeaways. 

Before we jump into this year’s session recaps, you should register now for our next MSR Webinar on June 30th: How to Increase Attendance at Your Rally. We’re also scheduling additional single-event sessions throughout the year to keep your skills fresh, so keep an eye out for those as well!

If you missed any of these sessions, you’ll be able to quickly get a feel for the main learnings. If you participated in any of these sessions live as they happened, here’s a great reminder of what we covered: 

Tuesday: 

MSR Form Builder and System Terminology Explained

How can you use the MSR Form Builder tools to create everything you need for your own events? Tim Wahl with Hagerty’s MSR Customer Support team walks you through how to personalize all kinds of workflows using the Organizer 360 system. 

This session features a full walkthrough of how to create an event and how easy it can be once you know how to use all (or most) of the available fields. You’ll watch as Tim creates a form with registration dates, how to segment event dates, how to manage your registrations and attendees, how to use the question fields to learn more about your participants and how to build advertisements for your event in the system. 

You’ll also watch as Tim shows you details about merchandise management, registration restrictions and waitlists, as well as how you can help attendees that are less tech-friendly to get registered. 

Two-way Radios

What are the rules for using two-way radio devices during your track day? Should you rent your gear or buy it outright? If you buy it, how do you take care of it? Do you need to worry about FCC licensing? Do you even need two-way radio equipment for your event? With 20 years of broadcast industry experience, Mike Pappas of the Porsche Club of America Rocky Mountain Region shares what he’s learned about the world of radio communications.

Radios can be vital for situational awareness in the middle of a track day and for keeping different teams up to speed on everything that’s going on. Mike’s club has expanded up to 60+ radios across multiple frequencies; with that experience, he details the benefits of renting over buying, what getting an FCC license requires, the lifespan of radio gear and best practices for radio communications (many of which you’ll learn here). 

SpeedWaiver 101

Why should you be using this particular e-sign system for your track day waivers? And how do you create your own waiver? There are a lot of great reasons to use the system, which is why Hagerty’s Shae Peterson is here to share them. SpeedWaiver lets you collect documents without physical contact and access them instantly; you’ll get a full walkthrough 

You’ll also learn how to get last-minute waiver signatures from spectators and participants using QR codes, which insurance providers have approved SpeedWaiver for their customers, and the brokers that work with those providers. 

Wednesday: 

Lyn St. James: How I Got There! (Keynote Address)

How did Lyn St. James get into racing, become the Indy 500’s Rookie of the Year in 1992, and set nearly two dozen national and international speed records along the way? In this hourlong keynote address, she talks about her career, some of the amazing cars that she’s driven throughout her career, and about dealing with failure (in the sport and beyond). 

She also recounts some of the amazing crashes she’s lived through and how she got back behind the wheel, and talks about how she’s worked to increase women’s participation and interest in racing and motorsports through Women in Motorsports North America.

Growing Class Participation (Part A and Part B)

With two hours of total coverage, this is the longest session of the three-day event as well as an extension of last year’s presentation from industry expert Frank Schwarz. He’s got decades of experience in motorsports and delivers tons of info about getting more people to take part in your group events, including his seven-step Roadmap to Success. 

You’ll also learn about how to engage people, create a community, building a “clubhouse” (even a digital version), and what we can learn from Kurt Vonnegut about storytelling and how it relates to your club and your events. Frank also delivers real-world examples of ideas that clubs across the country have used to increase participation, engagement, and excitement in their events. 

Thursday: 

Custom Reports From Your MSR Member, Attendance and Entry Screens

In this session, you’ll watch as two reporting pros show you how to use MSR tools to slice and dice your data and build custom reports in the MSR backend. You’ll learn how to get the info you need from your registration and participant info, to build reports based on what data you need at the time, get the info from your participants that you might not have yet, and share your data with other users. 

Tech for HPDE

Why do you need a tech inspection at your HPDE events and what kind of tech team do you need? In this session, Mirril McMullen will share with you from his 25 years of experience just how to maximize track time and maximize safety at the same time. You’ll discover why your tech process needs to be less intimidating and more supportive, best practices for the tech team and the steps you can use to get drivers through safely and quickly. 

McMullen will also share a list of baseline items that every vehicle and driver needs to have for a safe track day, as well as a short list of common tech issues that regularly come up at the track and how to address visibility rules, tethering rules, and what’s allowed in vehicles when it comes to devices like cameras and timing tools.

10 Things To Look For On Your Track Safety Inspection

If you want to keep your track and your drivers safe, you’ll want these tips from a former safety steward who has inspected Formula 1, IndyCar, and Formula E tracks. Ion this session, Scot Elkins lays out his checklist of what you need to ensure before anyone gets behind the wheel. 

What you’ll need for a safe track day starts with knowing what a good track configuration looks like as well as proper track condition (if you don’t know what verges and kerbs are, you’ll learn). Gates, barriers, run-off areas, and marshal posts all have specific things you need to check, and your safety and rescue team will have their own list of things they need to be aware of. And don’t forget to keep notes!