Pit Politics

[mightywombat]

I would agree that although pit placement and proximity are important, the most important variable is how well you know a team. I think that reputation has the most to do with choosing allies. At my first regional last year my team (857) got bumped up into 8th. We got to choose allies. We chose two teams that we both personally knew well and had good reputations - ChiefDelphi and Truck Town Thunder.

Placement does have something to do with it, but I think personal politics have more to do with it. You notice a lot of the time at least one of the partners is either close in number or close in team location to the other. For example, last year at the Midwest Regional, Team 292 from Russiaville, Indiana (about 5 minutes from Kokomo) picked us, because A. They knew what we could do and B. We are located close to each other and we know each other pretty well. Something I have noticed is that if a team is debating on picking one of two teams, they will pick the team that they know better and are friends with over the team that they do not know the adults/field coaches. Obviously its much easier to work with a friend that you know how they work over someone you do not know.