[Chris Fultz]

When you get to the competition portion of this program, it should be the goal of the 4 people on the field to get the absolute most they can out of the 120 pound machine placed on the field. Those 4 people have the responsibility to put into play the hundreds of hours of work from the team, the pit crew, the scouts, the sponsors and everyone else attached to the program.

For those 2 minutes of play time, that means the best combination of driver, operator, human player and coach to accomplish that should be the ones on the field.

Although often the same person, the person who put in the most hours is not necessarily the best person for any of those roles. I don't think any of those roles should be a "reward" for time put in - the decisions need to be based around what is the best combination of 4 people to be on the field. That might be a mentor for the coach, that might be a student. It might be the kid who puts in 30 hours a week in the shop, it might be the one that had other committments and could only do 15 - but has an unbelievable ability to drive or strategize.

We all have roles to play and sometimes those roles are out in front and sometimes they are in the background. The best result for the team should be the primary consideration.