Pros
You get to mess around with cool cars.
Cons
You are asked to do much more than just “instruct”. Aside from the “instructing aspect” which is really just pointing and saying orange to green, this is basically a customer service/lifeguard/manual labor role. Each day, instructors along with the rest of the staff report to the race track approximately three hours before the event starts. You are required to set up tents, move and stock coolers and generators, set up chairs along with many other manual tasks. Instructors are expected to room together at the “team hotel“. If you want your own room, you have to pay for it with only a small amount compensated ($50/nt). The travel stipend is hardly enough to cover the flights and other travel incidentals. You will also be charged $65-$75 for workers comp. insurance. Breakfast is provided (most of the time) at the hotel, but the hotels they select are usually one or two star facilities so don’t expect much. Lunch is also provided at the track. This is usually a food truck, panda express or some other very cheap option. The usual day lasts at least 10 hours not counting the one hour transit each way to the track in the “team van“. On many occasions we ran late due to overbooking or broken cars. The management would do everything possible to avoid paying overtime. They will stop the clock a minute before overtime will kick in if at all possible. Many events on the second or third hour of overtime they would call it a day right at the last minute. Tips are poor to nonexistent. Top earners will get approximately $100 per day, but this not common and also depends on the track the event is held at. There are also corporate groups that participate. It was rumored that the management staff at the event was keeping those tips. After more than 10 events with the company, I have not received a single corporate tip; although I was told by multiple corporate guests that they did in fact, leave tips for the instructors. Seat time is minimal. Unless you get a ride along don’t expect to drive much (max 10 mins per day). You are not protected if anything happens. They provide no liability protection for you since you are a private contractor. Many instructors pay for a separate policy to cover them in the event something happens. I have witnessed accidents on multiple occasions and you can be liable.