Originally posted by GregM@Jan 5 2006, 09:57 PM
Edwin and I have raced together many times. We always have a great time out there with our friends.
At summit point one year we had two cars, identical SSC Neons. Edwin please tell the story of this one.................the off track excursions they thought we didnt know about and brake pads/ dnf etc. and of course the attitudes.
Another car Edwin and I co-drove was owned by another friend. Two years in a row the damn alternator went at Homestead. How many times did we swap and charge the batteries in that race E ? The alternator went because another driver was rough and broke the exhaust, cooking the alternator causing it to fail ! Another co-driver consistantly flat spotted tires. Edwin can add more to this story....... Why did this all happen you may ask ???? Well it would seem they were competitng against their co-drivers more than racing an endurance race looking for fastest lap time !
I raced the 25 Hour one year and under a full course ( double yellow ) I got drilled by a car while I was on the straightaway approacing a multi car accident scene with the track partially blocked. Now it was in the morning but sun was up. I was moving fast but not at race speed. The car had the rear crushed in. We finished but it cost me $2500 to fix the car. The other driver never saw me. The damn corner workers never saw the incident and radioed my smoking car in two corners later wondering how that happened !!!
I had two Cobra R's in Grand Am Cup. I met potential rental drivers at Daytona test days. Many were interested. I turned all but one away. Needless to say we finished 1st and 7th at Daytona and as for the rental guys that I turned away. Their cars all dnf'd for various reasons. Remember RENTER BEWARE also!!!!
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Racing is rarely, if ever, incident and circumstance free.
I have no desire or interest in 'placing blame'.
Bottom line is this: When a person can come out and say:
'Here's what happened...' and is up-front about it.
THAT'S THE TYPE OF PERSON TO RENT TO - AND/OR DRIVE WITH.
I've been on BOTH sides of that.
Fortuantely, every time I was driving with someone else, it wasn't mega-serious errors that I committed.
That's why I say you build some 'fudge factor' pricing into your rental charge- and not sweat the small stuff.
Now, when I'm driving my own car, that's a different story.
Hell, I think there should be a junkyard in Watkins Glen with my name on it!
;^)
~E.
P.S. For the record- I can honestly say I don't think I've ever rented a 'perfectly prepared' car. I don't think many people could lay claim to that.
I've always rented what I felt was a 'duly prepared' car- and believe me - I've had things go wrong, and break, and come undone, and all that S*** plenty of times on my cars. AND I FELT BAD EVERY TIME.
Never have I felt that preparation was poor on any cars I've rented or driven.
Nor have I ever felt that anyone else intentionally created damage or incidents to any of the cars.