I'd like to make a few points here.
First, I think what Tom did was very honorable, and I admire him for that. He most likely spent long hours getting his car ready for the event but did not let that stop him from standing up for his principles.
Second, I think Dan makes some good points about the why's and wherefore's of the denial. However, I do not see how his points can be directed to the car and driver in question exclusively. All 4 of his points could also be directed at a PCA member who happened to be down from Oregon with their 904 (or 718, or ...). Would we also reject a Porsche because the driver and car are unknown?
- Both drivers would be PCA members with the requisite (and verifiable) qualifications but have not been to a PCASDR event previously.
- Both cars are distinct and only known to the chairs by reputation.
- Both cars would have a termendous advantage over the other cars on track.
If you were to be equal you would have to turn down a PCA member (with a p-car) for a PCA event. I suspect PCA National would not be happy about that.
And finally, in regards to this being a
Porsche club. I do like belonging to an exclusive club. Keeping out the riff-raff is important to me. However, I would also like to be able to invite friends to participate in an event or two. I don't really see a problem allowing guests of a member as long as preference was given to members.
As a good example of this in action, the TT team allows "Guest" participants frequently. And, to the best of my knowledge there have been no problems or issues due to this fact.
As a side note: It is in interesting point of fact that a QDE is more strict than a Big Track DE/TT, when the opposite should be true. But that appears to be the case.
