Jack, I rarely take the time to intervene in the inane conversations that of
late seem to dominate this thread. However, as one who restores and
occasionaly drives some of those "more exotic and rarer cars", I must take
issue with this bullshit about certain folks (people with more money), being
offended by the presence of some people (those with less money) who drive
"common or less expensive cars". You sound just like Peter Krause when he
whines about those competitors who arrive in big rigs with crews who wear
matching shirts. Keep in mind Jack, that no one owns an inexpensive racecar.
I believe that the majority of all drivers regardless of class, come to the
races in hope of having a good dice with others they trust, at a level of
speed the feel comfortable with. The fact that after the race some cars
return to a big tent and some to no tent at all has absolutely no bearing on
the level of fun had by their drivers.
Since you infer that you know of many "offended" owners of "exotic and
rarer cars", could you be more explicit as to who they are. I don't recall
hearing Jimmy Dobbs, Tom Mittler, Henry Payne,Mike Stott, Syd Silverman,Gil
Nickle or anyone else ever commenting on being offended by the "less
expensive more common cars" in their or any other group.
In the extreme,by your definition, when I have the good fortune to drive
a sportsracer that is one of one, or one of three, or one of seven
made, all of the other cars in my class are "common and less expensive", and
yet I don't feel offended.
Jack, rather than pontificating of your perceived inequities between the
"common and the rare", I would suggest that you spend some time developing
race schedules that more realistically reflect the "Safe, Fair, Fun promise
of our sanctioning body. Lets get back to single Group two thirty minute
sessions each day of the race weekend. Mid-Ohio, with its mixed three
sessions on Thursday, two sessions on Friday , one session on Saturday and
for all intents and purposes, one session on Sunday, was not my idea of the
definition of a Safe, Fair, Fun weekend. It was better than the year before,
but has a lot of room for improvement. John Harden
----- Original Message -----
From: <JWoesvra@aol.com>
To: <wsthompson@thicko.com>; <Mbrubin18@aol.com>; <LMR356@aol.com>
Cc: <team-thicko@autox.team.net>; <vintage-race@autox.team.net>;
<spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: now I remember...
> In a message dated 7/5/00 6:33:02 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> wsthompson@thicko.com writes:
>
> << In
> this instance, the failure on my car is not something I've seen in 26
years
> of owning Healeys... so I felt the need to make the occurence public, so
> that others might now consider the impact (pun tintended) on their own
> situation. The feelings of being trapped, upside down, on track, in a
high
> speed area of the course was another situation that I felt merited
> description. My thankfullness that I wasn't seriously hurt, or that no
one
> else was hurt was a sincere emotion. >>
>
>
> WST,
>
> I don't think anyone was upset about your initial posting. I think it was
> funny and helpful at the same time, and we ALL are glad you are OK.
>
> Some of the followup bantering was a little tasteless and perhaps went on
too
> long.
>
> You have to remember that the appearance of cars such as yours at vintage
> races, while in my opinion perfectly acceptable, does offend some of the
> folks who have more exotic or rarer cars, not that Lee Raskin is one of
them.
> Many of these people think that common or inexpensive cars polute the
waters.
> I feel sorry for them. There is a place for everyone as long as the common
> goal is to prep your car to the best of your ability and make sure it
looks
> correct for the period it represents. I have seen very rare cars with
> horrible preparation and substandard safety equipment.
>
> Jack Woehrle
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