How can I know if my driver crashes?

Do you have a crashy driver? There are several methods of keeping informed about what's going on with the rally:

• Listen to Net Control - This is the radio frequencies that the officials use to control the race. Anything known about cars crashed or stuck will generally be known here before anywhere else.
  • Pros:
    • Net Control has the most information.
  • Cons:
    • Most of the information will not be relevant to you.
    • You'll need to listen to it constantly.
    • You'll need special equipment (a scanner).
• Text message updates - Some rallies that have good phone coverage use the NRS texting system to send out updates. You can sign up inside your NRS account.
  • Pros:
    • You probably already have a cell phone.
    • It's free.
    • The information has been distilled down in to what is useful or entertaining.
    • It keeps you up to date on other info as well, like stage delays.
  • Cons:
    • No cell service means no info.

Those are the two passive methods of getting information. However, it's common for many teams that their first inkling that something is wrong is when the scheduled service comes and goes, and their car hasn't shown up yet. There are some scenarios where the race officials wouldn't know about the problem, for instance, if the car had completed the final racing section, but developed trouble on the transit to the service area. So, what do you do then? Well, you'll need to ask someone who knows the answer. And your best shot there is getting connected with Net Control itself.

• Find the volunteers who are checking teams in or out of the time control. They absolutely won't know what is up with your car, but they'll have an idea where you can find either a radio guy or a higher level official.
• Repeat this process (talking to volunteers and moving up the chain of command) till you get to someone with a radio. Have them ask Net Control if they know where Car 24 is.
• After you ask, be ready to hang out for a few minutes. There's a near 100% chance that the Net is already busy working on some other issue, so the radio operator that your standing next to will need to wait for a break in the traffic to get the message in.
• If the Net knows anything, the answer comes out a few minutes later.

You don't really need to text or call your driver: if they're stuck and they have cell service and they aren't working on anything, they'll call you. Most likely they are furiously doing something that answering calls wouldn't help with.