NEFR Photo/Video/ Post-event banter

Ray said:
concord pond was a mess, not saying it was sweeps fault or anyone volunteering it was the drunks everywhere. I was at the jump by the power-lines where Nenemaker crashed and the people were drinking a lot. Things just got out of control, police should have been there, I couldn't believe peoples actions :/ it gives rally a bad name.
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I was in the same area. People get there so early to get good spots and to get there before the road closes. They end up sitting around drinking for a few hours before the race. That, combined with nobody there that was "in charge" made for a bit of a mess. Still not sure why they stopped the rally, was it the crash?

 
That spot has been a roudy spot for years. They almost close that stage every year because duma$$es can't stay off the road even after it goes hot. Hammered drunks feel its OK to argue with the Safety-Spectator Marshals. Since Pastrana and Block came on the scene it has been getting more and more crowded.

There's no doubt one of these years Richard or Scott will close that stage before it begins. Its a shame people act like that. Its the awesome spot for that stage.

 
MuddyWRX said:
I was in the same area. People get there so early to get good spots and to get there before the road closes. They end up sitting around drinking for a few hours before the race. That, combined with nobody there that was "in charge" made for a bit of a mess. Still not sure why they stopped the rally, was it the crash?
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I don't want to speak for anybody else, but this is what I heard. The car that went off there was alright, but since they went far enough off the road they did not find it necessary to put up triangles. Someone saw them but no triangles and assumed the worst, and the next radio guy they hit radioed the red cross.

Makes kinda sense to me.

 
Post event scuttle-butt...

Car went off and DID place triangles/were displaying the OK sign. Drunk SOBs spectating were kicking the triangles off the road into the woods and harassing the crew about displaying the sign and "slowing" the cars down over the jump. The result being that the next few cars through saw triangles and the OK sign, no issues, then some cars didn't see anything and started questioning whether it was OK or not. Radio traffic from the organizers were trying to get a clear "yes, they are OK and the car is in a 'safe' spot" so they could relay that to start and let competitors know that there would not be triangles out. In the confusion, a marshal toward the end of the stage threw a red cross thinking the stage was being halted when all that really was being asked was to hold the start for a few minutes so they could confirm the crew was OK.

I love the Concord Pond stage itself - I don't like the drunken/wasted idiots who come out to spectate on it.

Tim

 
Stein said:
I don't want to speak for anybody else, but this is what I heard. The car that went off there was alright, but since they went far enough off the road they did not find it necessary to put up triangles. Someone saw them but no triangles and assumed the worst, and the next radio guy they hit radioed the red cross.

Makes kinda sense to me.
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The decision to throw the red cross was correct in a narrow sense (and supported by rally rules--crashed car w/no OK sign = potential red cross situation) but ultimately a flawed decision based on incomplete knowledge of the actual circumstances. trouble is, once the red cross gets thrown there's no way to reel it back in.

very unfortunate way to have a great stage get messed up more than usual.

Concord Pond rowdies are part of the scene, this isn't new and probly won't go away since many locals see the road closure and hurtling race cars as an excuse to cut loose a bit more than normal. they know the road is closed and it's hard for the cops to get in and therefore don't hold back.

but rather than invite a ton of police in and turn Concord Pond into a "Cops vs Drunks Confrontation" it would be good to publicize how messed-up it is to have rowdies interfere with rally ops and screw up the whole circus. that way it's much less likely to happen again. peer pressure works pretty good, even with drunks!

maybe if the organizers decided to cancel the stage for next year based on the actions of a hooligan few, the reaction would be for the crowd to be a bit more self-controlling once the stages is brought back?

big big big thanks to the MS peeps who helped out, it was fun to hang with y'all and help make the event happen.

 
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I have to admit, That crowd control course I was forced to take when I started working at University of Maine Fire Safety came in handy on Concord Pond. I even got to use my loud booming voice! Here is my take on the situation on Concord Pond:

I was riding with Bob in the Fast Sweep vehicle. We had stopped at the top of the next hill after the jump, like always, enough room to give room for the Heavy sweep guys to operate. As I was walking down toward where the EVO was off, I heard a bang, and the crows go Ape Shite. I ran down there, and fought my way through the Beehive activity. Checked on all folk who were in the vehicles that had collided, making sure they were all OK. As soon as I got a thumbs up from all parties, my thoughts turned to we need to make room. I do have one gripe about the marshals that were there in the orange vest... They were quite ineffective at following a task... I told them to HOLD people from coming down to gawk. then I proceeded to move people along. I'm sure quite a few people got pictures of my ugly face yelling at them..
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I had one guy get into my face, he was lucky I had more pressing issues.. Just sayin'.... but overall, I think getting the people to keep moving was the best thing I could have done in that situation.. SO if any of you were one of the one I was yelling at, I apologize, I was just trying to keep the crowd moving so we could open the road.

 
I saw a whole bunch of Mainely folk up there this year, a lot of ya probably didn't know who I was though...WE found a nice spot on Concord Pond this year!! We were in the wife's 98 red LGT roughly 30 seconds from the beginning of the stage. I was kinda bummed that Concord got canceled but Definitely glad that everyone was OK!! There was quite a long wait and we were getting quite worried about what had happened... All in all the event was great .. It seemed a bit rushed at some points... I bought a Double plus shirt from Rez at Sunday River, you guys did great this year. I'll try to upload some pictures/ videos I've got... can't promise anything tho... my computer HATES to upload.

 
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who got pix of car 894 Chevalier/Moody. It's no subie. the rwd hoonage going on should have caught some attention.

 
We would like to thank Jim O`Brian for leting me and my sons work the stages on Friday. We had fun with Jeff and sorry you got stuck at the power line with all those drunks. We have a drunk bimbo story of our own. On our way out just down the road from were Jimbo was staged we went left and there were some cars on a bridge that could only fit one car so we were letting the outback and a chevy truck behind that go by. Then in the middle of that a drunk bimbo yelled at us to get out of the way and then pulled forward and hit us. We got out and told her to back up and she started to go forward and push the fozzy. I said what are you doing and then she backed up. My son got a picture of the licence plate and the registration was expired last June.

 
ahahaha. Rallyblue was right behind you and saw that whole incident! He told me all about it at the fish pond stage the next day! Stupid drunk people

 
RedForester08 said:
We would like to thank Jim O`Brian for leting me and my sons work the stages on Friday. We had fun with Jeff and sorry you got stuck at the power line with all those drunks. We have a drunk bimbo story of our own. On our way out just down the road from were Jimbo was staged we went left and there were some cars on a bridge that could only fit one car so we were letting the outback and a chevy truck behind that go by. Then in the middle of that a drunk bimbo yelled at us to get out of the way and then pulled forward and hit us. We got out and told her to back up and she started to go forward and push the fozzy. I said what are you doing and then she backed up. My son got a picture of the licence plate and the registration was expired last June.
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Wow Jim. That's shitty! I hope you can get somewhere with that Donkey Hole's plate number. At least you and your family had fun most of the weekend.

 
Hey all, just remember for next year. As soon as sweep goes through, it is again a public roadway and subject to the rules and laws of the road. so if that happens again, call the 5.0!

 
Pedro said:
Hey all, just remember for next year. As soon as sweep goes through, it is again a public roadway and subject to the rules and laws of the road. so if that happens again, call the 5.0!
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Except when there's no cell reception.

 
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