[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Quite a while back, I was in ground school for DE. There were about 50 of us, I think, and the chief instructor told us that chances were that one or two of us would damage our car. Which says to me that odds of newbies doing something to their car was on the order of 2-3%.

I believe one person did damage their car during that event, but they were new to the area and not new to tracking cars, and it was a mechanical problem (oil leak) that put them into the wall at moderately-low speed.

I went four-off at one point; I found myself saying words that the chief instructor told us we would say: "I can save it!" When I realized that, I just straightened the wheel and took the car off in the generous run-off zone.

My experience at Club Races is rather different. I volunteered at a number of the early races here in Northern CA, and there was quite a bit of carnage--most of it of the single-car variety.

--DD