I sent this in response to Arne's e- mail but the whole thing may have
been too long; I'm editing it this time.
-----Original Message-----
From: Albaugh, Neil
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 9:37 AM
To: 'Arne Hulstein'; land-speed@autox.team.net; drmayf@mayfco.com;
wester6935@comcast.net
Subject: RE: JCB this, JCB that... I'm tired of it!
List;
At the risk of beating a dead horse, let me add to my other post about
JCB.
First, they were a good bunch of guys-- they waited in line like
everyone else, didn't complain or demand special treatment. We need to
remember that they were there for a purpose-- to give JCB a marketing
edge by demonstrating their new engine's capability and their technical
expertise. They accomplished that-- in spades.
There were pressures on that team that other salt racers don't have--
their car had to be built in a limited amount of time, it had to achieve
outstanding performance, and it had to meet a rigid time schedule. If
most guys scatter an engine, it isn't immediately broadcast 'round the
world by the news media and if things don't go right, there is always
next year. JCB had to do it right and do it on schedule; they did both,
to their credit.
I don't expect that this or any other corporate effort will be long-
lived. The whole effort is to milk as much favorable publicity as they
can out of it; continued participation just opens the window further to
potential disaster and negative publicity. Racing is replete with
examples of big $ factory racing programs that suddenly disappeared
overnight.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
|