What do you bet that "Autotechnik" is Junger's own business? Driver development needed, not offered.
What do you bet that "Autotechnik" is Junger's own business? Driver development needed, not offered.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
It's not based upon the response that I've received from them. Don't expect any sort of statement or press release, but they're dropping their limited support of him which was only initially in place due to his budget and number of events ran.
TurnerX19 said:What do you bet that "Autotechnik" is Junger's own business? Driver development needed, not offered.
They're in Florida, he's in NY - unlikely.
Neither of the two guys that appear on the Autotecknik home page were Junger.
When I did iRacing (and about to start up again as I gather stuff) I didn't see that level of jackassery.
Am I the only one bothered a bit that you guys basically Doxxed* a guy and got his limited sponsorship pulled over a youtube video?
Let the people who where there handle it through official means. Yes the video looks terrible. But the Spec Miata community needs to decide what they tolerate. We lack the necessary context of the on track incidents to determine what happened.
*Yes I realize it's not actually technically Doxxing as the entry list and sponsorship are public domain information. But it is in the sense that that information was shared with intent to effect his sponsorship and reputation.
I'm having a hard time seeing need for more context than what the video has. Maybe there's more to it, but I doubt it. As for leaving it to SM competitors and the SCCA to determine what happens, not sure where I stand on that. Sometimes a outrage at ridiculous behavior is a necessary catalyst for a change. It's just a matter of proportionality.
Edit: I'd be for a polite inquiry to the sponsor, which appears to have happened, but repeatedly calling them would be over the top.
In reply to nocones :
If you race wheel to wheel particularly any endurance racing, it doesn't matter what class or what sanctioning body he's running in this previous weekend, as he can be in your run group this coming weekend. If you have a license and you use it you are within that community even if you weren't on track while it was hot during this incident.
In reply to nocones :
See my initial post. I happen to agree with you, some of what's been suggested makes me uncomfortable as well.
One of the things I like about this forum is it seldom has the typical internet level cries for retribution and when it does the mods step in.
I would suggest that some folks reread there comments as they may not be as casual as you thought they were.
The guy in question is dangerous and shouldn't be allowed on track but suggesting people call a business sounds an awful lot like cancel culture to me.
The number is on the side of the car specifically so the car/driver can be identified in case of an incident. It's there to provide accountability for someone's actions. Like, you know, driving dangerously.
The sponsor's name is also on the car specifically so we can see it. The business wants to be associated with that person because it will reflect well on them either through the person's actions or their results. So if that person is doing things that do NOT reflect well on the business, well, it's reasonable to let them know. They're still being associated with that behavior.
"Cancel culture" sounds like a hot button rallying cry, I don't read enough news to know if it's for people with red hats or other colors of hats. But decisions and actions do have consequences, and hiding behind a hot button term to protect yourself is cowardice and trying to avoid those consequences. Would you accept it from a 5 year old?
You'll note I don't use a pseudonym on this or any other forum, so I obviously have different opinions about personal accountability than others.
nocones said:Am I the only one bothered a bit that you guys basically Doxxed* a guy and got his limited sponsorship pulled over a youtube video?
Let the people who where there handle it through official means. Yes the video looks terrible. But the Spec Miata community needs to decide what they tolerate. We lack the necessary context of the on track incidents to determine what happened.
*Yes I realize it's not actually technically Doxxing as the entry list and sponsorship are public domain information. But it is in the sense that that information was shared with intent to effect his sponsorship and reputation.
Did anybody actually call them?
All I saw was 3 or 4 people saying that the company should be called everyday for every car that he hit.
Id be shocked if anybody actually did call them.
More than likely, the company pulled his sponsorship from seeing the video.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
You'll notice I use my name as well; you will also find that I seldom use hot button terms and I'm in fact probably one of the most un-PC persons around. I used the word cancel culture because it's familiar term for most people.
All I'm saying is that what some folks are suggesting sounds, and I emphasize the word sounds, like they are suggesting some sort of retribution, even though I'm pretty sure they are not............simple as that.
From a business standpoint, it's on that company to decide what or who they wish to be associated with. As a non-customer of any business I'm certainly not going to call, alert or lecture them. I've dealt with this on a professional level as well so I do have experience with it.
Tom Grossmann.
Back to the race.........I watched the entire race from the video of the car following Junger. At one point the field is under a full course yellow as there are recovery vehicles on track. Nobody is passing (good boys!) but until they catch up to the pace car they're bopping along past one of the safety vehicles at 90 MPH !! I've never raced anywhere but Waterford Hills, so I might be naive, but that seems like excessive speed to me.
For what it's worth, it's not a sponsorship, AT maintains the car and transports it to the track, he pays them to fix it and bring it there and keep it running. It isn't up to AT what happens inside that car, if you want to call anyone call him? With this logic we should call VP racing fuel and yell at them for providing fuel to the car, and SCCA for providing a place to race, and Hoosier for providing a tire to race on. Right?
In reply to CptMiata :
Thank you for summing this up so succinctly.
nocones said:Am I the only one bothered a bit that you guys basically Doxxed* a guy and got his limited sponsorship pulled over a youtube video?
Let the people who where there handle it through official means. Yes the video looks terrible. But the Spec Miata community needs to decide what they tolerate. We lack the necessary context of the on track incidents to determine what happened.
*Yes I realize it's not actually technically Doxxing as the entry list and sponsorship are public domain information. But it is in the sense that that information was shared with intent to effect his sponsorship and reputation.
If it were a one time event, that would be one thing. But it seems that it's a pattern of driving behavior.
After all of that, what should be the consequence?
What if it happens again, and the person he hits has to quit racing because of the incident (regardless of why)?
If people are so aghast about outing the sponsor, what alternative do you propose?
In reply to CptMiata :
There's no issue with AT here. It is agreed that they don't control what occurs, they were informed and responded in kind with regards to the driver that directly represents them, though is not representative of them.
In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :
Not sure if anyone protested or not but the driver in question should be banned for 12 months. We'll have to see if this pops up in Fastrack or not.
Our region was fortunate in having a no nonsense Chief Stewards but not every region has this.
In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :
Understood, I by no means are defending Charles, I crew for a team that was affected by his negligence, but the guys at AT are close friends and build engines for me, so I felt the need to clear the air of his connection to the team. This is amateur racing we're talking about, there is little to zero sponsorship, if we were sponsorship quality we wouldn't be amateurs
AutoTechnik is a race car prep business, run by Jeff LaBounty. He prepped my very low budget SM to several top five finishes in 60 car fields at Sebring. He DOES NOT sponsor any cars other than his own. He has a fleet of cars a available for rental, and most likely, that’s the case here. Some of you on this thread need to calm the berk down
In reply to CptMiata :
Without going down the wormhole and sidetracking with regards to sponsorship-able quality. Most club racers if they choose to make the content and contribute a dozen or so weekends a year to potential and would be sponsorship partners are worth upward of $20k a year for a group of 4-5 sponsors and some in the $60k range. It takes 2 to 6 hours of commitment a week in addition to those weekends and for most club racers the cost benefit isn't worthwhile when compared to their effective income at their day job, opportunity cost with the family and the desire for rest and relaxation. Amateur motorsports though does have sponsorship value, content just needs to be made consumable away from the track and put into the hands of parties to consume it.
Tom1200 said:In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :
Not sure if anyone protested or not but the driver in question should be banned for 12 months. We'll have to see if this pops up in Fastrack or not.
Our region was fortunate in having a no nonsense Chief Stewards but not every region has this.
So how do you go about doing that?
What if the sanctioning body does not do that? Or just as bad, there are multiple sanctioning bodies who don't communicate or maybe not agree?
eastsideTim said:I'm having a hard time seeing need for more context than what the video has. Maybe there's more to it, but I doubt it. As for leaving it to SM competitors and the SCCA to determine what happens, not sure where I stand on that. Sometimes a outrage at ridiculous behavior is a necessary catalyst for a change.
Well say what you want but that kind of driving behavior at your local oval track in any class or at the highest levels of NASCAR would have been met with a real butt kicking. If this is repeated behavior I doubt that a sit down nice talking to would make any difference. Maybe SCCA putting him on probation would work but I doubt it.
In reply to pirate :
I agree wholeheartedly on him needing to be off the track. If this is a one off situation , maybe a suspension is good, but if this is part of a pattern of behavior, I'd think he shouldn't be allowed on so much as a go kart track for the rest of his life.
It's worth pointing out that this guy was visiting from a different region, not a member of the region that was hosting the event. I'm not sure how that affects their decision whether to throw the book at him or not. I think they should, he's going to kill someone out there. If you follow the FB thread this is pattern behavior.
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