[304065]

Milt, I have a different view on this.

I was flipping through the recent Panorama and noted how many prospective sellers put "never tracked," "never tracked or abused" in their ads, as though that's something to be proud of. I had the following thoughts:

1) A car that's been regularly taken to Driver's education has been required to comply with pre-event safety inspections. As such, it's entirely possible that such car is in better mechanical shape than one that sat in somebody's garage;

2) A car that's been raced is usually subject to both pre-and post-race mechanical inspections, often teardowns, and is MUCH more likely to have been given the once-over by someone who knows what he's doing. Brake pads, fluid, oil get changed regularly, bolts get torqued, suspension settings get checked and the motor gets regularly tuned, if you are trying to avoid DNS/DNF;

3) Thrashing one's car on the street with improptu drag races and standing-start 4000-rpm clutch drops is WAY harder on drivetrain and associated components than a rolling start on the racetrack.

4) The likelihood of damage to the car on the track is, in my opinion, less than that of a regularly street-driven car, due to the presence, in the case of the track, of shared expectations about driver behavior, and the absence of cellphone-chattering, hairbrush-wielding, cheeseburger-and-fries- consuming dolts behind the wheel of mega- UV's who haven't done a mirror check since WJC was in office.

5) The experience of driving on the track often inclines one to be more conservative on the street; and

6) It's a PORSCHE dammmit. It was DESIGNED to be driven on the track.

At the end of the day, you buy the owner, not the car. An owner with a "street only" car who's otherwise irresponsible and doesn't maintain the car is as much a prospective seller to avoid as the guy with a completely thrashed track car with bent suspension pick-up points and unibody damage due to multiple "offs."