John,
You're right about that. Seems to be an east-coaster though. I sent it to my local forum for their amusement.
Other than the obvious danger of passing while people are warming up their tires, the thing that really gets me is that the guy is trying to get his novice sign-off. Yet he CLEARLY makes a bad decision. There is NO ROOM for bad decisions on the racectrack. None.
I've failed students that were good drivers but made a bad decision that they 1) Had enough time to think about, 2) Stood nothing to gain from their maneuver, 3) Should have just been patient and made the decision to be careful in order to get their license.
I assume the starter thought he was dead-in-the-water and that's why she let everyone by. I've had this happen before, unless you have a verbal understanding, it never works out.
I had the starter point me to the outside pole when I requested the inside once. I took the inside and the guys behind me figured it out, but honestly I should have just stayed in the same spot.